Harq-ack transmission and retransmission in wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and computer programs for enhancing HARQ-ACK timing procedure. In one aspect, a method can include encoding, by a next generation NodeB (gNB), one or more sets of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) with respect to a listen before talk (LBT) operation on an unlicensed spectrum, transmitting, by the gNB, the encoded one or more sets of PDSCHs to the UE, and determining, by the gNB, scheduling for receiving a HARQ-ACK from the UE corresponding to the one or more sets of PDSCHs based on the LBT operation.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/864,291 filed Jun. 20, 2019, the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Each year, the number of mobile devices connected to wirelesscommunication networks significantly increases. In order to keep up withthe demand in mobile data traffic, necessary changes have to be made tosystem requirements to be able to meet these demands. Three criticalareas that need to be enhanced in order to deliver this increase intraffic are larger bandwidth, lower latency, and higher data rates.

SUMMARY

A major limiting factor in wireless innovation is the availability inspectrum. To mitigate this, the unlicensed spectrum has been an area ofinterest to expand the availability of wireless networks such as LTEnetworks. “In this context, one of the major enhancement for LTE in 3GPPRelease 13 has been to enable its operation in the unlicensed spectrumvia Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), which expands the system bandwidthby utilizing the flexible carrier aggregation (CA) framework introducedby the LTE-Advanced system.

Now that the main building blocks for the framework of NR networks havebeen established, a natural enhancement is to allow mobile devices usingthe NR networks to also operate on unlicensed spectrum. The work tointroduce shared/unlicensed spectrum in 5G NR has already been kickedoff, and a new work item on “NR-Based Access to Unlicensed Spectrum” wasapproved in TSG RAN Meeting #82.

An objective of this work includes a specification of HARQ operation. NRHARQ feedback mechanisms are the baseline for NR-U operation withextensions in line with agreements during the study phase (NR-U TRsection 7.2.1.3.3), including immediate transmission of HARQ ACKs/NACKsfor the corresponding data in the same channel occupancy time (COT) aswell as transmission of HARQ ACKs/NACKs in a subsequent COT.

One of the challenges in this case is that this system must maintainfair coexistence with other incumbent technologies, and in order to doso, some restriction may need to be taken into account when designingthis system, depending on the particular band in which it may operateon. For example, if operating in the 5 GHz band, a listen before talk(LBT) procedure needs to be performed to acquire the medium before atransmission can occur. For this reason, the HARQ feedback mechanism,which is tight to specific timing and operation when operating NR inlicensed band must be enhanced and modified to accommodate for thisconstrain when performing transmission on an unlicensed band. In orderto overcome this issue, the present disclosure provides details on howto enhance the scheduling procedure and HARQ timing procedure of NR inorder to allow for an efficient way to facilitate mobile deviceoperation in the unlicensed spectrum.

In a NR system operating on unlicensed spectrum, since a transmission isconditional to the success of the LBT procedure, the NR HARQ feedbackmechanism is no longer applicable. Motivated by this, this disclosureprovides details on how to enhance the HARQ timing procedure of NR inorder to allow an efficient way to operate in unlicensed spectrum.

According to one innovative aspect of the present disclosure, a methodfor enhancing a HARQ-ACK timing procedure is disclosed. In one aspect,the method can include actions of assigning, by an access node, a setindex to a set of PDSCHs, determining, by the access node, a firstHARQ-ACK for the set of PDSCHs associated with the set index,determining, by the access node, whether a second HARQ-ACK for adifferent set of PDSCHs is to be transmitted, and based on determining,by the access node, that a HARQ-ACK for the different set of PDSCHs isto be transmitted, transmitting, by the access node, scheduling data tothe user equipment (UE) that, when processed by the UE, causes the UE toschedule transmission of the first HARQ-ACK and the second HARQ-ACK.

Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computerprograms to perform the actions of methods defined by instructionsencoded on computer readable storage devices.

These and other versions may optionally include one or more of thefollowing features. For instance, in some implementations, thescheduling data is downlink control information (DCI), and the DCI caninclude data representing the set index and a previous set index, aC-DAI that is incremented based on a last DCI of the previous set index,and a T-DAI that indicates a total number of DCIs in the set index andthe previous set.

In some implementations, the set of PDSCHs can include PDSCHs withallocated PUCCH resource for a first time, PDSCHs that were neverassigned a PUCCH resource, or PDSCHs already assigned a PUCCH resourceat an earlier time but failed in trigger successful HARQ-ACKtransmission.

In some implementations, the scheduling data is one or more DCIs, and afirst DCI of the DCIs triggers HARQ-ACK transmission for one or multiplesets of PDSCHs and a different DCI of the DCIs (i) triggers HARQ-ACKtransmission for one set of PDSCHs or (ii) triggers HARQ-ACKtransmission for all sets of PDSCHs.

In some implementations, the scheduling data is one or more DCIs, andone particular DCI of the DCIs includes data representing the set indexand a reset indicator, a C-DAI that is incremented across each DCI withthe set index with reset indicator not toggled. In such implementations,the reset indicator of the particular DCI can be toggled and theparticular DCI has C-DAI equal to 1 and a T-DAI indicating the totalnumber of DCIs associated with the same set index and having a resetindicator not toggled.

In some implementations, the scheduling data is a DCI, a PUSCH isscheduled to a UE by a DCI. In such implementations, the (i) HARQ-ACKtransmission by the UE on PUSCH can be triggered by the DCI or (ii)HARQ-ACK transmission by the UE on PUSCH is triggered if the PUSCH isoverlapped with a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK transmission.

In some implementations, one bit can be added in a DCI to indicatereporting the HARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHs and T-DAI is reinterpreted toindicate the set index of the set of PDSCHs.

In some implementations, one bit can be added in a DCI to indicatewhether to report HARQ-ACK for a latest PDSCH of a HARQ process whoseHARQ-ACK is expected to transmit in a previous PUCCH for the first timeHARQ-ACK feedback.

In some implementations, one bit can be added in a DCI to indicatewhether a previous PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK was correctly received by theaccess node.

In some implementations, a number of PDSCHs counted by one or moreC-DAI/T-DAI is based on whether access node processing time between aprevious PUCCH and the current DCIs scheduling PDSCHs having a HARQ-ACKon a current PUCCH falls below a predetermined threshold level ofprocessing time.

In some implementations, a reset indicator, in a DCI scheduling the setof PDSCHs, is used to determine HARQ-ACK transmission of the set ofPDSCHs.

In some implementations, for a semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission,receiving, by the access node, an ACK transmitted by the UE for a HARQprocess only one time.

In some implementations, for semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission:determining, by the access node, whether HARQ-ACK was correctlyreceived; and based on determining, by the access node, that theHARQ-ACK was not correctly received, updating a triggering DCI toinclude a most recently assigned value of NDI for a HARQ process.

In some implementations, for semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission:determining, by the access node, whether HARQ-ACK was correctlyreceived, and based on determining, by the access node, that theHARQ-ACK was correctly received, updating a triggering DCI to include atoggled NDI for the HARQ process.

In some implementations, the access node is a next generation NodeB(gNB).

According to another innovative aspect of the present disclosure, amethod for enhancing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgment (ACK) timing procedure executed by user equipment (UE) ina wireless network including a next generation NodeB (gNB) and the UE isdisclosed. In one aspect, the method can include actions of receiving,by the UE, one or more sets of physical downlink shared channels(PDSCHs) using unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network, anddetermining, by the UE, to cause transmission of a HARQ-ACK or aretransmission of a HARQ-ACK corresponding to the one or more sets ofPDSCHs based on a listen before talk (LBT) operation.

Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computerprograms to perform the actions of methods defined by instructionsencoded on computer readable storage devices.

These and other versions may optionally include one or more of thefollowing features. For instance, in some implementations, theunlicensed spectrum includes unlicensed spectrum via Licensed-AssistedAccess (LAA) or unlicensed spectrum via carrier aggregation (CA).

In some implementations, the transmission of the HARQ-ACK or theretransmission of the HARQ-ACK is based on a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebookor a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook.

In some implementations, a set index was assigned to the one or moresets of PDSCHs by an access node, and wherein the transmission of theHARQ-ACK or the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK is based on the set ofPDSCHs with a corresponding set index.

In some implementations, the one or more sets of PDSCHs include acurrent set of PDSCH and one or more previous sets of PDSCH.

In some implementations, a downlink control information (DCI) includesdata representing a current set index and a previous set index, a C-DAIthat is incremented based on a last DCI of the previous set, and a T-DAIthat indicates a total number of DCIs in the previous set and thecurrent set.

In some implementations, a DCI includes data representing the set indexand a reset indicator, a C-DAI that is incremented across each DCI withthe set index with reset indicator not toggled. In such implementations,the reset indicator of the particular DCI is toggled and the particularDCI has C-DAI equal to 1 and a T-DAI indicating the total number of DCIsassociated with the same set index and having a reset indicator nottoggled.

In some implementations, one bit can be included in a DCI to indicatereporting the HARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHs. In such implementation, aT-DAI can be reinterpreted to indicate the set index of the set ofPDSCHs.

In some implementations, determining, by the UE, to cause transmissionof the HARQ ACK or a retransmission of a HARQ-ACK corresponding to theone or more sets of PDSCHs can include receiving, by the UE, a normalDCI to trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one or more of the sets ofPDSCHs, or receiving, by the UE, a fallback DCI to trigger HARQ-ACKtransmission for one of the sets of PDSCHs.

In some implementations, determining, by the UE, to cause transmissionof the HARQ ACK or a retransmission of a HARQ-ACK corresponding to theone or more sets of PDSCHs can include receiving, by the UE, a first DCIto trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one or more of the sets of PDSCHs,and receiving, by the UE, a different DCI to trigger HARQ-ACKtransmission for another one of the sets of PDSCHs.

In some implemenetations, receiving, by UE, a DCI to schedule a PUSCH,wherein the HARQ-ACK transmission or the HARQ-ACK retransmission on thePUSCH can include determining, by the UE, whether one-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback is indicated by the DCI, and based on determining that theone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is indicated by the DCI, transmitting, by theUE, HARQ-ACKs for each associated HARQ processes.

In some implemenations, receiving, by UE, a DCI to schedule a PUSCH,wherein the HARQ-ACK transmission or the HARQ-ACK retransmission on thePUSCH can include determining, by the UE, whether one-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback is indicated by the DCI, and based on determining that theone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is not indicated by the DCI, transmitting, bythe UE, HARQ-ACKs on the PUSCH only if the PUSCH is overlapped with aPUCCH for HARQ-ACK.

In some implementations, receiving, by the UE, a DCI to schedule aPUSCH, wherein the HARQ-ACK transmission or the HARQ-ACK retransmissionon the PUSCH is determined according to one of the following: HARQ-ACKtransmission on PUSCH is triggered by the DCI, or HARQ-ACK transmissionon PUSCH is triggered if the PUSCH is overlapped with a PUCCH forHARQ-ACK transmission.

Accordingly to another innovative aspect of the present disclosure, amethod for enhancing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgment (ACK) timing procedure executed by a next generationNodeB (gNB) in a wireless network including the gNB and a user equipment(UE) is disclose. In one aspect, a method can include encoding, by thegNB, one or more sets of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) withrespect to a listen before talk (LBT) operation on an unlicensedspectrum, transmitting, by the gNB, the encoded one or more sets ofPDSCHs to the UE, and determining, by the gNB, scheduling for receivinga HARQ-ACK from the UE corresponding to the one or more sets of PDSCHsbased on the LBT operation.

Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computerprograms to perform the actions of methods defined by instructionsencoded on computer readable storage devices.

These and other versions may optionally include one or more of thefollowing features. For instance, in some implementations, theunlicensed spectrum includes unlicensed spectrum via Licensed-AssistedAccess (LAA) or unlicensed spectrum via carrier aggregation (CA).

In some implementatinos, the method can further include receiving, bythe gNB, transmission of a HARQ-ACK or receiving a retransmission of aHARQ-ACK, wherein the HARQ-ACK was transmitted or retransmitted based ona dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook or a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook.

In some implementations, receipt of the transmission of the HARQ-ACK orreceipt of the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK from the UE occurs inresponse to the receipt of the one or more transmitted sets of PDSCHs.

In some implementations, the method can include initiating, by the gNB,the LBT operation, and determining, by the gNB, a shared channeloccupancy time (COT) for the LBT operation.

In some implementations, the method can include assigning, by the gNB, aset index to the one or more sets of PDSCHs. In such implementations,the HARQ-ACK for transmission by the UE is determined, by the UE, basedon the set of PDSCHs with a corresponding set index received by the UE.

In some implementations, the one or more sets of PDSCHs include acurrent set of PDSCH and a previous sets of PDSCH.

In some implementations, a downlink control information (DCI) indicatesa current set index and a previous set index, a C-DAI is incrementedbased on a last DCI of the previous set, and a T-DAI indicates a totalnumber of DCIs until now in the previous set and the current set.

In some implementations, the method can further include encoding, by thegNB, for transmission to the UE: a first DCI configured to triggerHARQ-ACK transmission for one or more of the sets of PDSCHs or a secondDCI configured to trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one of the sets ofPDSCHs.

In some implementations, encoding, by the gNB, for transmission to theUE: a first DCI configured to trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one ormore of the sets of PDSCHs, and a second DCI configured to triggerHARQ-ACK transmission for one of the sets of PDSCHs.

In some implementations, encoding, by the gNB for transmission to theUE, a DCI configured to schedule a PUSCH, wherein the scheduling for theHARQ-ACK on the PUSCH can include assiging data to the DCI that causesthe UE to use one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback for each associated HARQprocesses.

In some implementations encoding, by the gNB for transmission to the UE,a DCI configured to schedule a PUSCH, wherein the scheduling for theHARQ-ACK on the PUSCH comprises: assinging data to the DCI that causesthe UE to transmit HARQ-ACKs on PUSCH only if the PUSCH is overlappedwith a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK.

In some implementations, encoding, by the gNB for transmission to theUE, a DCI configured to schedule a PUSCH, wherein the scheduling for theHARQ-ACK on the PUSCH comprises one of: instruct the UE to performHARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCH that is triggered by the DCI, or instructthe UE to perform HARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCH that is triggered onlyif the PUSCH is overlapped with a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK transmission.

These and other aspects of the present disclosure are discussed in moredetail in the detailed description below with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A depicts an illustration representing an example of a HARQ-ACKcodebook based on current set index and previous set index.

FIG. 1B depicts an illustration representing an example of a HARQ-ACKcodebook with undefined K1 values.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustration representing an example of a HARQ-ACKcodebook based on set index and restart indication not toggled

FIG. 3 depicts an illustration representing an example of a HARQ-ACKcodebook based on set index and restart indication toggled.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustration representing an example of multiple K1values indicated by a DCI.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustration representing an example of a HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 6 depicts an illustration representing an example of a HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustration representing another example of HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 8 depicts an illustration representing another example of HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 9 depicts an illustration representing another example of HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 10 depicts an illustration representing another example of HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 11 depicts an illustration representing an example of cases forHARQ-ACK status of a HARQ process.

FIG. 12 depicts an illustration representing an example of a use ofPUCH_NDI.

FIG. 13 depicts an illustration representing an example of a use of aPUCCH_NDI.

FIG. 14 depicts an illustration representing another example of HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 15 depicts an illustration representing another example of HARQ-ACKtransmission for a set of PDSCHs.

FIG. 16 depicts an illustration representing an example of a use of asecond HARQ process number to form a HARQ-ACK codebook.

FIG. 17 depicts an illustration representing an example of a semi-staticHARQ-ACK codebook considering PDSCHs without PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timings.

FIG. 18 depicts an illustration representing an example of a differentLBT type for multiple K1 values.

FIG. 19 depicts an illustration representing an example of a CAT-4 LBTused outside COT.

FIG. 20 depicts an illustration representing an example of a grouptriggering HARQ-ACK retransmission.

FIG. 21 depicts an illustration representing another example of a grouptriggering HARQ-ACK retransmission.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example architecture of a system of a network.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example architecture of a system including afirst CN.

FIG. 24 illustrates an architecture of a system including a second CN.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment.

FIG. 26 illustrates an example of a platform.

FIG. 27 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry and radiofront end modules (RFEM).

FIG. 28 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implementedin a wireless communication device.

FIG. 29 illustrates components of a core network.

FIG. 30 illustrates components of a system to support NFV.

FIG. 31 illustrates components able to read instructions from amachine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

FIG. 32 illustrates a flowchart of an example of a process for enhancinga HARQ-ACK timing procedure executed by UE.

FIG. 33 illustrates a flowchart of an example of a process for enhancinga HARQ-ACK timing procedure executed by a gNB.

FIG. 34 illustrates a flowchart of another example of a process forenhancing a HARQ-ACK timing procedure executed by a gNB.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In NR Rel-15, both dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook and semi-static HARQ-ACKcodebook are supported. However, using the present disclosure, these twoschemes can be enhanced by taking into account the effects of missingPUCCH transmission at UE and/or PUCCH decoding error at gNB.Consequently, the enhanced schemes can better support the operation forNR unlicensed (NR-U).

In a PUCCH transmission timing, the UE may fail to pass LBT hence thereis no way to actually transmit the PUCCH carrying a set of HARQ-ACK. Toavoid enforcing gNB to retransmit all the PDSCHs corresponding to theset of HARQ-ACK, it needs to support transmission of the set of HARQ-ACKat a later time.

For a PUCCH transmission from UE, due to the potential hidden nodes orother factors, it is possible gNB cannot correctly decode the PUCCH. Forexample, a gNB may not have information available that indicates thesuccess/failure status of the related PDSCHs. To avoid enforcing gNB toretransmit all the PDSCHs corresponding to the set of HARQ-ACK, it needsto support transmission of the set of HARQ-ACK at a later time.

Dynamic HARQ-ACK Transmission

In dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, e.g. type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook in NRRel-15, counter downlink assignment index (C-DAI) is used to sort theHARQ-ACK bits, and total DAI (T-DAI) is used to derive the codebooksize. In case a set of HARQ-ACKs fails for transmission, one issue ishow to make sure gNB and UE has the same understanding on the missing ofthis set of HARQ-ACKs, otherwise, gNB and UE may not have sameunderstanding a HARQ-ACK codebook size when the set of HARQ-ACKs istransmitted or retransmitted in a future time possibly together withother old or new HARQ-ACK bits. One more issue is how to deal with C-DAIand T-DAI when the set of HARQ-ACK is transmitted or retransmitted in afuture time possibly together with other old or new HARQ-ACK bits.

In one implementation, a set index is assigned to a set of PDSCHs. gNBcan assign a different set index for different set of PDSCHs scheduledat a different time. For example, a set of PDSCHs have the same setindex if the initial HARQ-ACK transmission of them uses the same PUCCHchannel. gNB can trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for a current set ofPDSCH and if needed a previous set of PDSCH. When a PDSCH is scheduledby a DCI, the DCI will include all or part of the following information,by dedicated field(s) or jointly interpreted with other information. Forexample, in some implementations, the DCI can include data orinformation representing all or a part of the following information:

-   -   An indication for the current set of PDSCHs, e.g. a current set        index;    -   An indication to a previous set of PDSCH whose HARQ-ACK needs to        be transmitted or retransmitted together with the current set of        PDSCHs, e.g. a previous set index;    -   C-DAI: if above previous set index indicates a valid previous        set, C-DAI will be incremented based on the last DCI of the        previous set, so that C-DAI of both previous set and current set        can be continuous; otherwise, C-DAI starts from value 1;    -   T-DAI: if above previous set index indicate a valid previous        set, T-DAI will indicate the total number of DCIs until now in        the previous set and the current set; otherwise, T-DAI only        indicates the total number of DCIs until now in the current set.

As illustrated by case 100A in FIG. 1A, a first set of PDSCH 110A withC-DAI=1 and 2 with current set index=1 fails in HARQ-ACK transmission inPUCCH resource U1. After knowing this case, gNB decides to retransmit ittogether with a new set of PDSCH with current set index=3 by settingprevious set index=1 120A. C-DAI of the new set will be counted as 3 and4 130A, which follows the 2 PDSCHs from previous set 1.

In one implementation, in a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, if there is noinformation on PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing (K1), the current set indexstill indicates a valid set index. HARQ-ACK for the set of PDSCH withoutvalid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing will be transmitted together with a setof PDSCHs with valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing with the same current setindex. PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing and PUCCH resource for the HARQ-ACKtransmission is indicated by the DCI scheduling a PDSCH with validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing for the same set of PDSCHs. C-DAI and T-DAIwill count PDSCHs with the same current set index continuously, possiblytogether with a previous set of PDSCHs which is transmitted in theprevious channel Occupancy Time (COT). Within a same set of PDSCHs, aPDSCH without valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing can be scheduled onlyearlier than a PDSCH with valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing. Alternatively,within a same set of PDSCHs, a PDSCH without valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACKtiming can be scheduled earlier than, later than or at the same timingwith a PDSCH with valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing. For example, for a UEconfigured with carrier aggregation, a PDSCH with validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing is scheduled on a carrier, while another PDSCHin the same timing can be scheduled without valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACKtiming in another carrier.

FIG. 1B illustrates the case 100B that a PDSCH without validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing is scheduled later than the PDSCH with validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing. This case can be used when the K1 value is notapplicable when the PDSCH is scheduled.

In another implementation, a set index is assigned to a set of PDSCHs.HARQ-ACK is determined for the set of PDSCHs with same set index. Theset of PDSCHs include all PDSCHs with same set index whose HARQ-ACK arenot successfully transmitted yet, unless some other criteria fordropping HARQ-ACK for a PDSCH is satisfied. There can be multiple setsof PDSCHs with different set indexes, e.g. a 2-bit set index can supportup to 4 set of PDSCHs, where the size of the set indexes can beconfigured by RRC (either by UE-specific manner or by cell-specificmanner) or fixed in the specification. A set of PDSCHs may includemultiple subsets of PDSCHs. Herein, a subset of PDSCHs may be allocateda PUCCH resource for the first time, or may never be assigned a PUCCHresource yet, or may be already assigned a PUCCH resource in earliertime for one or more times but failed in HARQ-ACK transmission due toLBT failure and/or gNB detection error. There can be no limitations onthe time resources of the different sets of PDSCHs. The different set ofPDSCHs can be mapped different time window not overlapped. The subset ofPDSCHs from different set of PDSCHs can be mapped different time windownot overlapped, while the subsets of PDSCHs from different set of PDSCHscan be interleaved. Alternatively, the PDSCHs from different sets ofPDSCHs can be interleaved.

Preferably, a subset of a set of PDSCHs can include the PDSCHs whoseHARQ-ACKs are expected to transmit on the same PUCCH resource for thefirst time HARQ-ACK feedback. As shown case 200 in FIG. 2 , the PDSCHs210 with C-DAI equals to 1, 2, 3 can be considered as in the same subsetas PDSCHs 212 with C-DAI equals to 4, 5. Value 5 is indicated as value 1if modulo 4 operation is done. Preferably, there is enough gNBprocessing time between a PUCCH resource for a subset and a DCIscheduling PDSCH in a followed subset. However, the exact timing betweendifferent subsets and the related PUCCHs is not limited in thisdisclosure and can be up to gNB implementation.

The following information can be indicated to derive the HARQ-ACKs for aset of PDSCHs to be transmitted on a currently indicated PUCCH. Suchinformation can include, for example:

-   -   An indication for a set of PDSCHs, e.g. a set index (SI),        HARQ-ACK for all PDSCHs scheduled by DCI with same set index        (not reset yet, e.g. reset indicator is not toggled) should be        reported at currently indicated PUCCH resource;    -   An indication to reset the set of PDSCHs, e.g. reset indicator        (RI) for the set of PDSCHs. RI can operate in a toggle or not        toggle manner like new data indicator (NDI) field. Once RI is        toggled. HARQ-ACK for all earlier PDSCHs with RI not toggled are        omitted in HARQ-ACK transmission. That is, if a PDSCH X and all        following PDSCH(s) in the set of PDSCHs are scheduled with DCIs        indicating same RI as the RI for the set of PDSCHs, the reported        HARQ-ACK codebook includes HARQ-ACK for the PDSCH X;    -   C-DAI for the set of PDSCHs: C-DAI is incremented across all        DCIs with the set index if RI is not toggled. The first DCI with        toggled RI will have C-DAI equal to 1;    -   T-DAI for the set of PDSCHs: T-DAI indicates the total number of        DCIs till now across all DCIs with the set index with RI not        toggled. If a UE operates on a single carrier, T-DAI may not        need to be explicitly transmitted. In fact, T-DAI equals to        C-DAI in this case. Therefore, C-DAI also serves the function of        T-DAI.        Herein, the currently indicated PUCCH resource can be derived by        the last DCI(s) received by the UE.

In one implementation A, when a PDSCH is scheduled to a UE by a DCI,only HARQ-ACKs for the current set of PDSCHs can be reported by the UEin the currently indicated PUCCH by the DCI. Herein, the SI of thecurrent PDSCH set is included in the DCI. The DCI can include at leastthe following information controlling HARQ-ACK transmission. e.g. bydedicated field(s) or jointly interpreted with other information,

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

Alternatively, the DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information,

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs.

Alternatively, the DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information,

-   -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs.

If there is no RI indicated in the DCI, it can only applies to fallbackDCI. A UE can use RI in a normal DCI indicating same SI to derive the RIfor the set of PDSCH. If there is no SI indicated in the DCI, the SI canbe a predefined value, e.g. the first set, or a RRC configured value.

Alternatively, with the information controlling HARQ-ACK transmission ina DCI in the above implementation A, a UE can report HARQ-ACK for allsets of PDSCHs.

In one implementation B, when a PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI, HARQ-ACKfor one or multiple sets of PDSCHs are reported by UE. For a set ofPDSCHs, the HARQ-ACKs are derived by the SI, RI, C-DAI and T-DAI (ifpresent) of the set of PDSCHs. If HARQ-ACK of only one set of PDSCHs isreported, it is the current set of PDSCH. Herein, the SI of the currentPDSCH set is indicated in the DCI. The DCI can include at least thefollowing information controlling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. bydedicated field(s) or jointly interpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   Indication for other set(s) of PDSCHs to be reported together        with current set of PDSCH;    -   RI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

Alternatively, the DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission. e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   Indication for other set(s) of PDSCHs to be reported together        with current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be reported on        the currently indicated PUCCH. The number of RI equals to        maximum number of sets of PDSCHs. Alternatively, the number of        RI equals to maximum number of sets of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACK can        be reported in a same PUCCH, e.g. UE is configured to report        HARQ-ACK for at most 2 of 4 sets of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

Alternatively, the DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs.    -   Indication for other set(s) of PDSCHs to be reported together        with current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be reported on        the currently indicated PUCCH. The number of RI equals to        maximum number of sets of PDSCHs. Alternatively, the number of        RI equals to maximum number of sets of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACK can        be reported in a same PUCCH, e.g. UE is configured to report        HARQ-ACK for at most 2 of 4 sets of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for each set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be reported        on the currently indicated PUCCH, if present. The number of        T-DAI equals to maximum number of sets of PDSCHs. Alternatively,        the number of T-DAI equals to maximum number of sets of PDSCHs        whose HARQ-ACK can be reported in a same PUCCH, e.g. UE is        configured to report HARQ-ACK for at most 2 of 4 sets of PDSCHs.

Regarding indication for other set(s) of PDSCHs to be reported togetherwith current set of PDSCH, it can be indicated using a bitmap with1-by-1 mapping for the other set(s) of PDSCHs. If maximum N sets ofPDSCHs can be used in PDSCH scheduling, the indication can use N−1 bits.If maximum 2 sets of PDSCHs can be used in PDSCH scheduling, theindication can be one bit to indicate whether the other set differentfrom the current set is to be reported. Alternatively, the indicationcan be number of other sets to be reported. If it indicates zero, it isto only report for the current set. If it indicates one, it is to reportfor both sets. Alternatively, the indication can be number of sets to bereported. If it indicates one set, it is to only report for the currentset. If it indicates two sets, it is to report for both sets.

Alternatively, the DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs. The number of RI equals to maximum        number of sets of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

Alternatively, the DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs. The number of RI equals to maximum        number of sets of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for each set of PDSCHs, if present. The number of T-DAI        equals to maximum number of sets of PDSCHs.

Regarding RI for each set of PDSCHs, if HARQ-ACK needs to be reportedfor a set of PDSCHs, the indicated RI for the set is same as RI in thelatest DCI(s) scheduling PDSCH in the set, e.g. not toggled. If HARQ-ACKdoes not need to be reported for a set of PDSCH, the indicated RI forthe set is toggled compared to the RI in the latest DCI(s) schedulingPDSCH in the set.

In implementation B triggering HARQ-ACK transmission for one or multiplesets of PDSCHs, for a set Y of PDSCHs other than the current set ofPDSCHs:

-   -   If there is no RI for set Y indicated in the current DCI, RI for        set Y can be derived by the last received DCI(s) scheduling        PDSCH of the set Y;    -   if there is no T-DAI for set Y indicated in the current DCI,        T-DAI for set Y can be derived by the last received DCI(s)        scheduling PDSCH of the set Y.

In one implementation, in case HARQ-ACK for multiple sets of PDSCHs arereported by UE, HARQ-ACKs for the multiple sets of PDSCHs are sorted inan increasing order or decreasing order of set index.

Alternatively, in case HARQ-ACK for multiple sets of PDSCHs are reportedby UE, HARQ-ACKs for the current set of PDSCHs are sorted first,followed by the HARQ-ACKs for the other set(s) of PDSCHs in anincreasing order or decreasing order of set index.

A UE may need to monitor a normal DL DCI and a fallback DL DCI for thePDSCH scheduling. Herein, a normal DL DCI is the DCI which provides moreflexible control on the PDSCH transmission for larger throughput. Anormal DCI can have a larger payload size, e.g. DCI 1_1 in NR Rel-15. Onthe other hand, a fallback DCI is targeted for reliable transmission ofPDCCH and PDSCH. A fallback DCI can be have a smaller payload size forbetter link performance, e.g. DCI 1_0 in NR Rel-15. According to aboveanalysis, small payload size of DCI 1_0 helps to improve linkperformance of DCI 1_0. One way to reduce the size of fallback DCI is toreduce the information controlling HARQ-ACK transmission.

In one implementation, for a fallback DCI, e.g. DCI 1_0, only HARQ-ACKsfor the current set of PDSCHs are reported by UE. For a fallback DCI,only information controlling HARQ-ACK transmission for a current set ofPDSCHs is indicated, as provided in above implementation A. While, for anormal DCI, e.g. DCI 1_1, HARQ-ACK for one or multiple sets of PDSCHsare reported by UE. For a normal DCI, information controlling HARQ-ACKtransmission for one or multiple sets of PDSCHs are indicated, asprovided in above implementation B.

In one implementation, for a normal DCI, e.g. DCI 1_1, HARQ-ACK for oneor multiple sets of PDSCHs are reported by UE. For a normal DCI,information controlling HARQ-ACK transmission for one or multiple setsof PDSCHs are indicated, as provided in above implementation B. While,for a fallback DCI, e.g. DCI 1_0, HARQ-ACK for all sets of PDSCHs arereported by UE. For a fallback DCI, only information controllingHARQ-ACK transmission for a current set of PDSCHs is indicated, asprovided in above implementation A. Alternatively, a fallback DCIincludes at least the following information controlling HARQ-ACKtransmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointly interpreted withother information:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs. The number of RI equals to maximum        number of sets of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;

In one implementation, a UE determines the set(s) of PDSCHs for whichHARQ-ACKs are reported according to information in the last receivedDCI(s). If the last DCI is DCI 1_0, the UE can determine the set(s) ofPDSCHs for which HARQ-ACKs are reported according to a most recent DCI1_1 scheduling PDSCHs. The DCI 1_1 can schedule a PDSCH of the currentset of PDSCHs. Alternatively, if HARQ-ACK feedback of multiple sets ofPDSCHs are triggered, the DCI 1_1 can schedule a PDSCH of one of themultiple sets of PDSCHs. If all DCIs received by UE are DCI 1_0, UE canreport the HARQ-ACKs following the indication in DCI 1_0.

In one implementation, the same information controlling HARQ-ACKtransmission (only for a current set of PDSCHs as implementation A, orfor one or multiple sets of PDSCHs as implementation B) is included in anormal DCI and a fallback DCI.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the PDSCHs 214 with C-DAI=1 and 2 with set index=1with reset indicator=0 fails in HARQ-ACK transmission in PUCCH resourceU1. After knowing this case, gNB decides to retransmit it together withHARQ-ACK for PDSCHs 216, the same set index=1 is assigned for the PDSCHs216 with reset indicator=0 (e.g. not toggled). In this case, C-DAI ofthe PDSCHs 216 will be counted as 3 and 4 which follows the two PDSCHs214 with set index 1. By this way, HARQ-ACK transmission in PUCCHresource U3 include HARQ-ACK for all 4 PDSCHs.

On the other hand, as shown in 300 of FIG. 3 , if gNB receives theHARQ-ACK for the PDSCHs 310 with set index 1 and gNB still wants to useset index 1 312, gNB can indicate set index=1 with reset indicator=1(e.g. toggled) 314 for the PDSCHs 316. In this case, C-DAI of the PDSCHs316 will be counted as 1 and 2, e.g. C-DAI counting is restarted. Bythis way, HARQ-ACK transmission in PUCCH resource U3 only includesHARQ-ACK for PDSCHs 316.

In one implementation, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , in a DCI scheduling aPDSCH, if there is no information on PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, the setindex still indicate a valid set index. HARQ-ACK for the set of PDSCHwithout valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing will be transmitted together witha set of PDSCHs with valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing with same set index.PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing and PUCCH resource for the HARQ-ACKtransmission is indicated by the DCI scheduling a PDSCH with validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing for the same set of PDSCHs. C-DAI and T-DAIwill count PDSCHs with the same set index continuously. Within a sameset of PDSCHs, a PDSCH without valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing can bescheduled only earlier than a PDSCH with valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing.Alternatively, within a same set of PDSCHs, a PDSCH without validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing can be scheduled earlier than, later than or atthe same timing with a PDSCH with valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing. Forexample, for a UE configured with carrier aggregation, a PDSCH withvalid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing is scheduled on a carrier, while anotherPDSCH in the same timing can be scheduled without validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing in another carrier.

When a PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI, it could also support triggeringone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback for all HARQ processes. One-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback has the benefit of fixed codebook size hence is more robust.For example, a dedicated bit in a DCI can indicate either a normaldynamic HARQ-ACK feedback or a one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback.Alternatively, a combination of certain values of multiple fields in aDCI may indicate one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback; otherwise it is normaldynamic HARQ-ACK feedback.

In one implementation C, when a PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI, if one-shotHARQ-ACK feedback is indicated, the DCI can include at least thefollowing information controlling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. bydedicated field(s) or jointly interpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for the other set(s) of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

Equivalently, the DCI can include:

-   -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

A UE will form a HARQ-ACK codebook which includes HARQ-ACK for all theHARQ processes. If the RI of a latest PDSCH associated with a HARQprocess is not toggled compared to the RI in the triggering DCI for theset of PDSCHs which includes the latest PDSCH of the same HARQ process,the UE retransmits the actual HARQ-ACK for the HARQ process. If the RIof a latest PDSCH associated with a HARQ process is toggled compared tothe RI in the triggering DCI for the same set of PDSCHs which includesthe latest PDSCH of the same HARQ process, the UE transmits NACK/DTX forthe HARQ process. For all other HARQ processes, the UE transmitsNACK/DTX.

In the DCI, C-DAI/T-DAI may not be useful in the current one-shotHARQ-ACK feedback, however, it is still beneficial to transmit suchinformation. For example, if the one-shot HARQ-ACK transmission from UEfails due to either UL LBT failure or wrong detection at gNB side, it isup to gNB implementation to trigger a normal dynamic HARQ-ACK feedbackor another one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback in a future time.

Certain fields in DCI can be interpreted based on normal dyanmicHARQ-ACK feedback or one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is indicated. The commonfields in a DCI in implementation B and C are not reinterpreted. Thecommon fields can include:

-   -   Indication on normal dyanmic HARQ-ACK feedback or one-shot        HARQ-ACK feedback.    -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

If a DCI is triggering normal dyanmic HARQ-ACK feedback, the followinginformation can be signaled: ‘Indication for other set(s) of PDSCHs tobe reported together with current set of PDSCH’ and ‘RI for the currentset of PDSCHs’. While, if DCI is triggering one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback,‘RI for each set of PDSCHs’ can be signaled. Alternatively, the commonfields can include:

-   -   Indication on normal dynamic HARQ-ACK feedback or one-shot        HARQ-ACK feedback;    -   SI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   C-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the current set of PDSCHs, if present.

If a DCI is triggering normal dynamic HARQ-ACK feedback, ‘Indication forother set(s) of PDSCHs to be reported together with current set ofPDSCH’ can be signaled. While, if DCI is triggering one-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback, ‘RI for other set(s) of PDSCHs except the current set ofPDSCHs’ can be signaled. Specifically, if only two sets are used, a DCIindicates one-bit Indication for the other set of PDSCHs if it istriggering normal dynamic HARQ-ACK feedback. While, it indicates one-bitRI for the other set of PDSCHs if DCI is triggering one-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback.

In one implementation, the above one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback can betriggered by both normal DCI and fallback DCI. Alternatively, the aboveone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback can be triggered by normal DCI only. By thisway, one bit is saved in fallback DCI for better link performance.Alternatively, a fallback DCI always triggers one-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback, while a normal DCI can indicate either a one-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback or a normal dyanmic HARQ-ACK feedback.

When a PUSCH is scheduled by a DCI, it can also support triggeringone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback for all HARQ processes on PUSCH. For example,a dedicated bit in the DCI can indicate one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback onthe scheduled PUSCH. Alternatively, a combination of certain values ofmultiple fields in the DCI may indicate one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback onthe scheduled PUSCH.

In one implementation, when a PUSCH is scheduled to a UE by a DCI, ifone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is indicated, HARQ-ACKs for all the HARQprocesses can be reported by the UE. Otherwise, the UE transmitsHARQ-ACKs on PUSCH only if the PUSCH is overlapped with a PUCCH forHARQ-ACK. In addition to the indication triggering one-shot HARQ-ACKfeedback, the DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   RI for the current set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for the other set(s) of PDSCHs;

Equivalently, the DCI can include:

-   -   RI for each set of PDSCHs.

A UE will form a HARQ-ACK codebook which includes HARQ-ACK for all theHARQ processes. If the RI of a latest PDSCH associated with a HARQprocess is not toggled compared to the RI in the triggering DCI for theset of PDSCHs which includes the latest PDSCH of the same HARQ process,the UE retransmits the actual HARQ-ACK for the HARQ process. If the RIof a latest PDSCH associated with a HARQ process is toggled compared tothe RI in the triggering DCI for the same set of PDSCHs which includesthe latest PDSCH of the same HARQ process, the UE transmits NACK/DTX forthe HARQ process. For all other HARQ processes, the UE transmitsNACK/DTX.

If one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is not indicated in the DCI whichschedules a PUSCH, and if the PUSCH is overlapped with a PUCCH forHARQ-ACK, the DCI can include the following information to derive thesize of normal dynamic codebook, e.g. as NR Rel-15.

-   -   T-DAI for the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook if CBG based PDSCH        transmission is not configured, or for the first HARQ-ACK        sub-codebook if CBG based PDSCH transmission is configured;    -   T-DAI for the second HARQ-ACK sub-codebook if CBG based PDSCH        transmission is configured.

Certains field(s) in DCI which schedules a PUSCH can be differentlyinterpreted based on whether normal dynamic HARQ-ACK feedback orone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is indicated. If the DCI indicates normaldynamic HARQ-ACK feedback, it is interpreted as T-DAI. If the DCIindicates one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback, it is interpreted as ‘RI for thecurrent set of PDSCHs’ and ‘RI for the other set(s) of PDSCHs’, or as‘RI for each set of PDSCHs’.

In one implementation, when a PUSCH is scheduled by a DCI, HARQ-ACKtransmission on PUSCH is triggered if the PUSCH is overlapped with aPUCCH for HARQ-ACK transmission. If one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback isindicated by the DCI, HARQ-ACKs for all HARQ processes are transmittedon PUSCH. Otherwise, HARQ-ACKs with normal dynamic codebook aretransmitted on PUSCH.

In one implementation, when a PUSCH is scheduled by a DCI, HARQ-ACKtransmission on PUSCH is triggered by the DCI, no matter the PUSCH isoverlapped with a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK transmission or not.

If indicated by the DCI, HARQ-ACK for one set of PDSCHs are reported byUE. The DCI can include at least the following information controllingHARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointly interpretedwith other information:

-   -   SI for the a set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for the the set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the set of PDSCHs.

Alternatively, the DCI may include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the a set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the set of PDSCHs.

If indicated by the DCI, HARQ-ACK for one or multiple sets of PDSCHs arereported by UE. The DCI can include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the a first set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be        reported;    -   Indication for other set(s) of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be        reported;    -   RI for the first set of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the first set of PDSCHs.

Alternatively, the DCI will include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for the a first set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be        reported;    -   Indication for other set(s) of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be        reported;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be reported;    -   T-DAI for the first set of PDSCHs.

Alternatively, the DCI will include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   Indication for the set(s) of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be        reported;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be reported;    -   T-DAI for each set of PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are to be reported.

Alternatively, the DCI will include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   SI for a first set of PDSCHs;    -   RI for each set of PDSCHs;    -   The number of RI equals to maximum number of sets of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for the first set of PDSCHs.

Alternatively, the DCI will include at least the following informationcontrolling HARQ-ACK transmission, e.g. by dedicated field(s) or jointlyinterpreted with other information:

-   -   RI for each set of PDSCHs. The number of RI equals to maximum        number of sets of PDSCHs;    -   T-DAI for each set of PDSCHs. The number of T-DAI equals to        maximum number of sets of PDSCHs.

In one implementation, the above one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback can betriggered by both normal DCI and fallback DCI. Alternatively, the aboveone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback can be triggered by normal DCI only. By thisway, one bit is saved in fallback DCI for better link performance.

In one implementation, assuming a DCI can indicate one or multiplevalues of K1 for PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timings, the HARQ-ACK codebook canstill be determined by set index, reset indicator, C-DAI/T-DAI. As shownin 400 FIG. 4 , the PDSCHs 410 with C-DAI=1 and 2 with set index=1 withreset indicator=0 fails in HARQ-ACK transmission in PUCCH resource U1.After knowing this case, gNB decides to retransmit it together withHARQ-ACK for two PDSCHs 420, the same set index=1 is assigned for thePDSCHs 420 with reset indicator=0 (e.g. not toggled). C-DAI of thePDSCHs 420 will be counted as 3 and 4 which follows the PDSCHs 410 withset index 1. By this way, HARQ-ACK transmission in PUCCH resource U2 orU3 includes HARQ-ACK for 4 PDSCHs. However, though gNB provides twoopportunities for LBT operation of PUCCH, it is still possible that LBTcan be failed or gNB doesn't receive the PUCCH. In this case, gNBdecides to retransmit HARQ-ACK for all 4 PDSCHs together with HARQ-ACKfor PDSCHs 430, the same set index=1 is assigned for the PDSCHs 430 withreset indicator=0 (e.g. not toggled). In this case, C-DAI of the PDSCHs430 will be counted as 5 and 6 which follows the PDSCHs 420 with setindex 1. Value 5 and 6 are indicated as value 1 and 2 if modulo 4operation is done. By this way, HARQ-ACK transmission in PUCCH resourceU4 or U5 includes HARQ-ACK for all 6 PDSCHs.

In one implementation, when gNB schedules a PDSCH by a DCI, gNB may wantto trigger transmission or retransmission of HARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHswithout HARQ-ACK for current PDSCHs. A separated bit can be included inDCI to indicate such operation. If this separated bit is set, it is toreport the HARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHs only. K1 indicates aPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing related to the currently scheduled PDSCH andARI indicates a PUCCH resource. The derived PUCCH resource by K1 and ARIis actually used for the HARQ-ACK transmission of earlier PDSCHs only.TPC, set index, and restart indication are determined as is. T-DAI canbe reinterpreted as an indicator of set index of a set of earlier PDSCHsfor which the HARQ-ACK is triggered; however, C-DAI is still used ascounter for HARQ-ACK ordering of current PDSCH(s). Preferably, theindicated set index by T-DAI is different from the set index in the DCI.That is, the DCI is triggering HARQ-ACK transmission for a set of PDSCHswith a different set index from the current scheduled PDSCH. Otherwise,it may cause confusion on how to interpret the reset indicator. If thisseparated bit is not set, HARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHs, if existed, aretransmitted together with currently scheduled PDSCH as disclosed inother implementations.

Preferably, a subset of a set of PDSCHs can include the PDSCHs whoseHARQ-ACKs are expected to transmit on the same PUCCH resource for thefirst time HARQ-ACK feedback. As shown in FIG. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 , or 10, 2PDSCHs 510, 610, 710 810, 910, 1010 belong to a first subset, while 4PDSCHs 520, 620, 720, 820, 920, 1020 belong to a second subset. Forconsecutive subsets, there may be not enough gNB processing time betweena PUCCH resource for the first subset(s) and one or more DCIs schedulingPDSCHs in the second subset. The first subset(s) may be strictly asingle subset of the set of PDSCHs, or the first subset(s) can beactually multiple consecutive subsets having the same value of resetindicator. The value of reset indicator in the above mentioned one ormore DCIs can be different from the value of reset indicator in theother DCIs of the second subset. Reset indicator in the other DCIs ofthe second subset is used to determine HARQ-ACK transmission of allPDSCHs in the second subset. If no DCI in the 2^(nd) subset other thanthe above mentioned one or more DCIs is received, reset indicator in theabove mentioned one or more DCIs is used to determine HARQ-ACKtransmission of the second subset. Alternatively, reset indictor in alater DCI scheduling the set of PDSCHs is used to derive the effectivereset indicator of the second subset.

In the above mentioned one or more DCIs, since gNB doesn't know whetherHARQ-ACK of PDSCHs in the first subset(s) can be received or not due toinsufficient processing time, gNB can keep reset indicator unchanged.Alternatively, gNB and UE may just neglect the value of reset indicatorin the above mentioned one or more DCIs. According to a DCI in the2^(nd) subset other than the above mentioned one or more DCIs, if thereset indicator is not toggled, HARQ-ACK for all the above consecutivesubsets are transmitted. Otherwise, if the reset indicator is toggled,only HARQ-ACK for all PDSCHs in the second subset is reported. If no DCIin the 2^(nd) subset other than the above mentioned one or more DCIs isreceived, UE can skip HARQ-ACK transmission, or UE can report HARQ-ACKfor PDSCHs in the first subset(s) and also for PDSCHs scheduled by theabove mentioned one or more DCIs in a PUCCH indicated by a DCI of thesecond subset. If no DCI in the 2^(nd) subset other than the abovementioned one or more DCIs is received, assuming UE doesn't transmitPUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK, an additional DCI must trigger HARQ-ACKretransmission by scheduling the same set of PDSCHs at a later time.That is, reset indicator of the later DCI equals to the effective resetindicator of the second subset, and also determine whether to retransmitHARQ-ACK for PDSCHs in the first subset(s).

In one implementation, for the above consecutive subsets, two differentindications of C-DAI/T-DAI can be indicated at least in the abovementioned one or more DCIs. The above two indications of C-DAI/T-DAI canbe explicitly included as separate fields in a DCI. Alternatively, oneindication of C-DAI/T-DAI (indication A) is included as a field in aDCI, while the other indication of C-DAI/T-DAI (indication B) is onlyindicated in the above mentioned one or more DCIs by reinterpretingother existing field(s), for example, TPC or RAI. In all the aboveconsecutive subsets, at least one C-DAI/T-DAI is indicated. In the DCIswhich are not the above mentioned one or more DCIs, there is justone-DAI/T-DAI is indicated. For those DCI, gNB may indicate indication Aor indication B depending on the HARQ-feedback situation. The gNB maytoggle the reset indicator to indicate if indication B is included,while indication A is included otherwise. From a UE perspective,depending on whether reset indicator is toggled or not, the UE may knowwhich indication is received between indication A and indication B.Indication A of C-DAI/T-DAI counts number of PDSCHs in all the aboveconsecutive subsets, still denoted as C-DAI/T-DAI in the following.Indication B of C-DAI/T-DAI only counts the number of PDSCHs in thesecond subset, denoted V-C-DAI/V-T-DAI.

In the above mentioned one or more DCIs, gNB can set a special value ofK1, e.g. no valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-timing indicated, so that ARI and/orTPC can be reinterpreted to indicate V-C-DAI/V-T-DAI. As shown in FIG.5, 500 or 6, 600 , the first two PDSCHs 521/522, 621/622 of the secondsubset of four PDSCHs 520, 620 are next to PUCCH U1 530, 630, gNB cannotprepare scheduling information in these two DCIs considering HARQ-ACKinformation carried in U1 530, 630 due to the insufficient processingtime. In these two DCIs, C-DAI=3 & 4 are indicated following the firstsubset of two PDSCHs 510, 610 with C-DAI=1 & 2. Additionally, V-C-DAI=1& 2 are indicated in DCI, where ARI or TPC fields are not needed so thatV-C-DAI can be indicated instead of AIR or TPC without changing thetotal number of bits for DCI. Reset indicator are unchanged (e.g. value0, not toggled). Starting from the 3^(rd) PDSCH 523, 623 of the secondsubsets of PDSCHs 520, 620, gNB can know the reception status of U1 530,630 due to the sufficient processing time for U1 530, 630 decoding. Theinterpretation as C-DAI or V-C-DAI for the DCIs scheduling the last twoPDSCHs 523/524, 623/624 of the second subset of PDSCHs depends onwhether reset indicator 540, 640 is toggled or not.

In FIG. 5 , U1 530 is not received (illustrated via X on element 530),gNB can trigger UE to report HARQ-ACK for PDSCH with C-DAI=1 & 2 again,so gNB keeps same value of reset indicator 540 (e.g. value 0, nottoggled) and indicates C-DAI=5 & 6 (1 & 2 after modulo operation) in theDCIs scheduling 3^(rd) and 4^(th) PDSCHs 523, 524, which counts allPDSCHs in the two subsets. To report HARQ-ACK, the UE can includeHARQ-ACKs for all 6 PDSCHs by following the C-DAI indication.

However, in FIG. 6 , U1 630 is received (illustrated via a check mark onelement 630), UE doesn't need to report HARQ-ACK for PDSCH with C-DAI=1& 2 any more, so gNB can toggle reset indicator 640 (e.g. value 1) andindicate V-C-DAI=3 & 4 in the DCIs scheduling 3^(rd) and 4^(th) PDSCHs623, 624, which only counts PDSCHs in the current subset. To reportHARQ-ACK, UE can include HARQ-ACKs for the 4 PDSCHs 620 by followingV-C-DAI indication of the PDSCHs 620.

In one implementation, for the above consecutive subsets, C-DAI/T-DAIcounts number of PDSCHs in all the above consecutive subsets. If thereset indicator in the DCIs in the second subset other than the abovementioned one or more DCIs is toggled, UE can implicitly adjust thevalue of C-DAI in the DCIs in the second subset based on the number ofPDSCHs in the first subset(s) and use the adjusted C-DAI for determiningHARQ codebook.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, 700 or 8, 800 , the first two PDSCHs721/722, 821/822 of the second subset of four PDSCHs 720, 820 are nearto PUCCH U1 730, 830, gNB cannot prepare scheduling information in thesetwo DCIs considering HARQ-ACK information carried in U1. In these twoDCIs, C-DAI=3 & 4 are indicated which count the two earlier PDSCHs withC-DAI=1 & 2. Reset indicator are unchanged (e.g. value 0, not toggled).Starting from the 3^(rd) PDSCH 723, 823, gNB can know the receptionstatus of U1 730, 830. The DCIs scheduling last 2 PDSCHs 723/724,823/824 of the second subset of PDSCHs 720, 820 have C-DAI=5 & 6.

In FIG. 7 , if U1 730 is not correctly received (illustrated by the X onelement 730), gNB can trigger UE to report HARQ-ACK for PDSCH withC-DAI=1 & 2 again. gNB keeps same value of reset indicator 740 (e.g.value 0, not toggled) in DCI scheduling the last two PDSCHs 723, 724 ofthe second subset of four PDSCHs 720 with C-DAI=5 & 6. UE transmitsHARQ-ACK of all 6 PDSCHs by C-DAI and does HARQ-ACK transmission on U2.

In FIG. 8 , if U1 830 is correctly received (illustrated by the checkmark on element 830), UE doesn't need to report HARQ-ACK for PDSCH withC-DAI=1 & 2 anymore. Therefore, gNB can toggle the reset 840 (e.g.value 1) in the DCI scheduling last two PDSCHs 823, 824 of the secondsubset of four PDSCHs 820. Since the reset indicator 840 is toggled, UEcan assume that HARQ-ACKs for the first subset 810 have been correctlyreceived by the gNB. Then, UE can know the first PDSCH 821 in the secondsubset 820 has a C-DAI=3. Finally, UE can know there are four PDSCHs821, 822, 823, 824 in the second subset 820 ordered by C-DAI=3, 4, 5, 6.In this, UE can just report 4 HARQ-ACKs for the second subset 820 in U2even though the last C-DAI value is 6.

In one implementation, for the above consecutive subsets, C-DAI/T-DAI inthe above mentioned one or more DCIs count the number of PDSCHs in allthe above consecutive subsets. If the reset indicator in the other DCIsin the second subset 520,620, 720, 820 is not toggled, C-DAI/T-DAI inthe DCIs counts the number of PDSCHs in all the above consecutivesubsets. If reset indicator in the other DCIs in the second subset520,620, 720, 820 is toggled, C-DAI/T-DAI in the DCIs only counts thenumber of PDSCHs in the second subset 520,620, 720, 820. If resetindicator in the other DCIs in the second subset 520,620, 720, 820 istoggled, UE can adjust value of C-DAI in the above mentioned one or moreDCIs based on the number of PDSCHs in the first subset(s) 510, 610, 710,810.

As shown in FIG. 9, 900 or 10, 1000 , the first two PDSCHs 921/922,1021/1022 of the second subset of PDSCHs 920, 1020 are near to PUCCH U1930, 1030, gNB cannot prepare scheduling information in these two DCIsreferring HARQ-ACK information carried in U1. In these two DCIs, C-DAI=3& 4 are indicated which count the two earlier PDSCHs with C-DAI=1 & 2.The reset indicator is unchanged (e.g. value 0, not toggled). Startingfrom the 3^(rd) PDSCH 923, 1023 of the second subsets of PDSCHs 920,1020, gNB can know the reception status of U1 930, 1030. Values of C-DAIin the DCIs scheduling last 2 PDSCHs 923/924, 1023/1024 of the secondsubset of PDSCHs 920, 1020 depends on the reset indicator.

In FIG. 9 , U1 930 is not correctly received (illustrated using X overelement 930), gNB can trigger UE to report HARQ-ACK for PDSCH withC-DAI=1 & 2 again. The gNB keeps same value of reset indicator 940 (e.g.value 0, not toggled) in DCI scheduling the last two PDSCHs 923, 924 ofthe second subset of PDSCHs 1020, which are assigned with C-DAI=5 & 6.UE transmits HARQ-ACK of all 6 PDSCHs by C-DAI and does HARQ-ACKtransmission on U2.

In FIG. 10 , U1 1030 is correctly received (illustrated using check markover element 1030), UE doesn't need to report HARQ-ACK for PDSCH withC-DAI=1 & 2 any more, so gNB can toggle reset indicator 1040 (e.g.value 1) in the DCI scheduling last two PDSCHs 1023, 1024 of the secondgroup of PDSCH 1020. The last two PDSCHs 1023, 1024 have C-DAI=3 & 4.Since reset indicator 1040 is toggled, UE can determine that HARQ ACKsfor the first subset of PDSCH 1010 have been correctly received by thegNB. Then, the UE can interpret the C-DAI of the first two PDSCHs 1021,1022 of the second subset 1020 by 2, so that new C-DAI values becomes 1& 2. C-DAI of the 4 PDSCHs 1021, 1022, 1023, 1024 of the second subset1020 becomes 1, 2, 3, 4. By this way, UE can transmit HARQ-ACK of thefour PDSCHs of the second subset 1020 by C-DAI.

In one implementation, a single set of PDSCH is used in HARQ-ACKtransmission. Therefore, the HARQ-ACK codebook is determined by resetindicator, C-DAI/T-DAI. In this case, information on set index is notneeded in a DCI. For example, the scheme shown in FIG. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ,or 10 can operate if only one set of PDSCH is used in HARQ-ACKtransmission. Equivalently, concept of set of PDSCH doesn't need to bedefined at all.

Semi-Static HARQ-ACK Transmission Based on HARQ Processes

In semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook, one way to make a fixed codebook sizeis to transmit HARQ-ACK for all configured HARQ processes or a subset ofconfigured HARQ processes. In this scheme, HARQ-ACK bits for an alreadytransmitted HARQ process in a previous HARQ-ACK transmission are stillincluded in the current HARQ-ACK codebook. One critical issue is to makegNB and UE have the same understanding on the transmitted HARQ-ACK bitsfor a HARQ process.

The triggering DCI may schedule a PDSCH or only trigger HARQ-ACKtransmission of earlier scheduled PDSCHs. For a first HARQ process usedby a PDSCH received by UE, if HARQ-ACK of the PDSCH is to be reported onthe current HARQ-ACK transmission for the first time HARQ-ACK feedback,HARQ-ACK for the first HARQ process is generated according to thereception status of the PDSCH. Otherwise, the HARQ-ACK for the latestPDSCH of a second HARQ process received by UE is expected to be alreadytransmitted in a previous HARQ-ACK transmission for the first timeHARQ-ACK feedback. This can happen if UE receives a trigger DCI whichschedules a PDSCH with a different HARQ process or only trigger HARQ-ACKtransmission. There are 4 cases for the second HARQ process illustratedin FIG. 11, 1100 and described in more detail below:

-   -   a. Case 1) 1110: for the HARQ process, UE already sent its        HARQ-ACK and gNB correctly received the HARQ-ACK 1112;    -   b. Case 2) 1120: for the HARQ process, UE sent its HARQ-ACK, but        gNB fails 1122 to receive this HARQ-ACK;    -   c. Case 3) 1130: for the HARQ process, UE fails to pass LBT        1132, hence it cannot transmit PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK;    -   d. Case 4) 1140: for the HARQ process, UE misses DCI with a        toggled NDI, hence UE never transmits a PUCCH indicated by the        DCI since UE doesn't know there is a new PDSCH scheduled by gNB        1142.

Without other enhancements, a UE cannot distinguish case 4) from case1). In one implementation, once UE already sent ACK for a HARQ processin a previous PUCCH, UE should report NACK/DTX for the same HARQ processif no new PDSCH received for the HARQ-ACK process and there is new PUCCHfor HARQ-ACK transmission. By this way, UE always reports NACK/DTX forcase 1) and 4), though UE cannot distinguish case 1) and 4). Afterreceiving the NACK/DTX, if it is actually case 4), gNB can scheduleretransmission for the PDSCH. Such a scheme works, however, UE will alsoreport NACK/DTX in case 2) which causes redundent retransmission of aPDSCH.

In one implementation, the triggering DCI may schedule a PDSCH or onlytrigger HARQ-ACK transmission. Here, the DCI can include the latestvalue of NDI for a HARQ process if HARQ-ACK for the HARQ process is notcorrectly received; otherwise, it can include a toggled NDI for the HARQprocess. For case 1) in FIG. 11 , given gNB is sure that there is noconfusion on PDSCH transmission using this HARQ process between UE andgNB, gNB can indicate either values of NDI in the triggering DCI. Basedon the NDI value, UE can know whether there is a missed PDCCH for theHARQ process. In an extreme case, 16 or 32 bits of NDI values are neededto trigger HARQ-ACK for all 16 HARQ processes with one or two TBs. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 11 , when gNB signals NDI=1 for a HARQ processin the most recent DCI trigging HARQ-ACK transmission in PUCCH resourceU3, UE can distinguish case 1)-4) by comparing the latest NDI known bythe UE and the NDI (=1) signaled in the most recent DCI for a HARQprocess:

-   -   UE transmits the actual HARQ-ACK for the HARQ process in the        current HARQ-ACK codebook, if NDI is not toggled. It is case        1), 2) or 3). For case 1) or 2), though they are still not        distinguishable by UE, UE can always transmit the actual        HARQ-ACK (ACK in FIG. 11 ) of PDSCH D2 again to gNB so that gNB        can know the D2 is correctly received; for case 3), UE can        transmit the actual HARQ-ACK (ACK in FIG. 11 ) of D2 to gNB        since it is never transmitted yet;    -   UE reports NACK/DTX for the HARQ process in the current HARQ-ACK        codebook, if NDI is toggled. It is case 4). UE eventually        realizes it must miss a PDCCH with NDI=1 scheduling D2,        therefore the UE can report NACK/DTX.

In one implementation, when UE reports its HARQ-ACK to gNB in a PUCCH,UE can include the latest NDI at UE side for each HARQ process. In anextreme case, 16 or 32 bits of latest NDI are included in the HARQ-ACKcodebook for all 16 HARQ processes with one for two TBs. gNB canidentify case 1)-4) by comparing UE reported latest NDI in PUCCH U3 andthe NDI (=1) known by gNB for a HARQ process:

-   -   It is case 1), 2) or 3) if NDI is not toggled. For case 1), it        is duplicated HARQ-ACK information for the HARQ process in gNB        point of view; for case 2) and 3), sometimes gNB cannot        correctly distinguish these two cases, however, gNB can get the        correct HARQ-ACK information (ACK in FIG. 11 ) for the HARQ        process;    -   It is case 4) if NDI is toggled. gNB can know that UE must miss        the PDCCH with NDI=1 scheduling PDSCH D2, therefore gNB can        consider a DTX is received for D2.

In one implementation, the triggering DCI may schedule a PDSCH or onlytrigger HARQ-ACK transmission, the DCI can include one bit information,denoted as PUCCH_NDI. PUCCH_NDI can operate in toggled/not toggledmanner. PUCCH_NDI can indicate whether UE needs to report HARQ-ACK inthe current PUCCH for a latest PDSCH of a HARQ process whose HARQ-ACK isexpected to be transmitted in a previous PUCCH for the first timeHARQ-ACK feedback. Alternatively, PUCCH_NDI can indicate if a previousPUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK is correctly received by gNB. The scheme canoperate on all HARQ processes as a whole, or can operate on each subsetof HARQ processes separately. Preferably, if a PUCCH is correctlyreceived, gNB can trigger new HARQ-ACK transmission with PUCCH_NDItoggled; If PUCCH is wrong or not detected, gNB triggers HARQ-ACKretransmission with PUCCH_NDI not toggled. For a HARQ process whoseHARQ-ACK is expected to be already transmitted in a previous PUCCH,

-   -   UE reports a NACK/DTX for the HARQ process in the current        HARQ-ACK codebook, if UE receives PUCCH_NDI toggled. It is 1) or        4). UE actually cannot distinguish case 1) and 4) for the HARQ        process, but UE can always report a NACK/DTX;    -   If UE receives PUCCH_NDI not toggled, UE reports the actual        HARQ-ACK for the HARQ process in the current HARQ-ACK codebook.        If UE already transmits the previous PUCCH, it is case 2). UE        knows gNB doesn't receive its transmitted PUCCH, therefore UE        report the actual HARQ-ACK (ACK in FIG. 411 ) again. If UE        doesn't transmit the previous PUCCH, it is case 3). UE reports        the actual HARQ-ACK (ACK in FIG. 11 );

In FIG. 12 , and otherwise described herein, the number in termP{number} means HARQ process number. As shown in FIG. 12, 1200 , sincePUCCH_NDI when scheduling HARQ process 4 & 7 is toggled 1240 (0 versus1), UE can report NACK/DTX for HARQ process 0 & 1 and include actualHARQ-ACK for HARQ process 4 & 7. If UE misses a second PDSCH with HARQprocess 1, though UE doesn't know its existence, UE anyway reportsNACK/DTX for HARQ process 1 in PUCCH U2. On the other hand, as shown inFIG. 13, 1300 , if PUCCH_NDI is not toggled 1340, UE can report actualHARQ-ACK for all 4 HARQ processes.

In one implementation, the above scheme based on PUCCH_NDI can operateon a set of PDSCHs identified with the same set index. The set index canbe indicated in DCI. Different set of PDSCHs can be interleaved in time.PUCCH_NDI in DCI for PDSCHs with a different set index operatesindepedently.

In one implementation, a subset of HARQ processes is predefined,preconfigured or configured by RRC, so that UE only reports HARQ-ACK fora subset of HARQ processes to reduce payload size for UCI on PUCCH. Asingle subset of HARQ processes can be predefined, preconfigured orconfigured by RRC. Alternatively, multiple subsets of HARQ processes canbe predefined, preconfigured or configured by RRC. The subset of HARQprocess is explicitly indicated in the triggering DCI. Alternatively,HARQ processes indicated in the triggering DCI implicitly indicate asubset of HARQ process, e.g. this subset contains the HARQ process inthe DCI.

In one implementation, a subset of a set of PDSCHs using a set of HARQprocesses can include the PDSCHs whose HARQ-ACKs are expected totransmit on the same PUCCH resource for the first time HARQ-ACKfeedback. For consecutive subsets, if there is not enough gNB processingtime between a PUCCH resource for the first subset(s) and one or moreDCIs scheduling PDSCHs in the second subset, gNB can keep PUCCH_NDIunchanged in the above mentioned one or more DCIs. Alternatively, gNBand UE may just neglect the value of PUCCH_NDI in the above mentionedone or more DCIs. The first subset(s) may be strictly a single subset ofthe set of PDSCHs using the set of HARQ processes, or the firstsubset(s) can be actually multiple consecutive subsets having the samePUCCH_NDI. PUCCH_NDI in the above one or more DCIs can be different fromPUCCH_NDI in the other DCIs of the second subset. PUCCH_NDI in the otherDCIs of the second subset is used to determine HARQ-ACK transmission ofall HARQ processes in the second subset. If no DCI in the 2^(nd) subsetother than the above mentioned one or more DCIs is received, PUCCH_NDIin the above mentioned one or more DCIs can be used to determineHARQ-ACK transmission of the second subset. Alternatively, PUCCH_NDI ina later DCI using the set of HARQ processes is used to derive effectivePUCCH_NDI of the second subset.

In the above mentioned one or more DCIs, gNB can indicate a valid valueof PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-timing. If a DCI other than the above mentioned oneor more DCIs is received by UE, UE can rely on PUCCH_NDI in the DCIregarding how to treat HARQ-ACK of HARQ processes used by the firstsubset(s). Otherwise, UE can report NACK/DTX for the HARQ processes usedby the first subset(s), or UE can report actual HARQ-ACK for the HARQprocesses used by the first subset(s). Alternatively, in the abovementioned one or more DCIs, gNB can set a special value of K1, e.g. novalid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-timing indicated. If UE doesn't receive anyother DCI except the above mentioned one or more DCI, there is no validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-timing to derive a PUCCH resource. HARQ-ACKretransmission relies on future gNB scheduling. Since UE doesn'ttransmit PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK for the PDSCHs without validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-timing, an additional DCI must trigger HARQ-ACKretransmission by scheduling the same set of HARQ processes at a latertime. That is, PUCCH_NDI of the later DCI equals to the PUCCH_NDI of thesecond subset, and also determine whether to retransmit HARQ-ACK forHARQ processes used by the first subset(s).

As shown in FIG. 14, 1400 , since PUCCH_NDI when scheduling HARQ process5 & 6 is toggled 1440 (1 versus 0), UE can report NACK/DTX for HARQprocess 1 & 2 and include actual HARQ-ACK for HARQ process 3-6. On theother hand, as shown in FIG. 15, 1500 , if PUCCH_NDI is not toggled 1540for DCI scheduling HARQ process 5 & 6, UE can report actual HARQ-ACK forall HARQ processes 1-6.

In one implementation, a subset of HARQ processes is predefined,preconfigured or configured by RRC. In a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, asecond HARQ process number is indicated in addition to the HARQ processnumber used in HARQ soft combining. The second HARQ process number isused in forming a HARQ-ACK codebook. The second HARQ process number canbe a separate field, hence, it can be carried in all DCI. Alternatively,the second HARQ process number is only included in some of DCIs. Forexample, for a DCI without valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, ARI and TPCfield is actually useless, and these five bits can be reinterpreted toindicate the second HARQ process number; while for for a DCI with validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, the second HARQ process number is notindicated. By this way, though there is restriction on gNB's using aHARQ process, e.g. limited by early (re)transmission status, gNB cantransform current used HARQ processes into a subset by setting a propersecond HARQ process number, so as to compact HARQ-ACK payload size. Inthis scheme, gNB cannot manage the HARQ process in the DCI used toindicate PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, PUCCH resource and TPC. However, gNBcan always manage the HARQ process in a DCI without validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing.

Assuming maximum 16 HARQ processes are configured, which is divided into4 subsets, 0˜3, 4˜7, 8˜11, 12˜15, HARQ-ACK feedback per subset istransmitted as one PUCCH. As shown in FIG. 16, 1600 , assuming gNB hasto schedule HARQ process 1 1610, 14 1612, 9 1614, 6 1616 for HARQ softcombining, and assuming gNB wants to pretend subset 4-7. PDSCH scheduledby DCI with HARQ process number=6 is the one with valid K1, hence number6 cannot be changed. In fact, there is no other field in DCI that can beused to change it to a different HARQ process number. For PDSCHscheduled by DCI with HARQ process number field=1, 14, 9, a second HARQprocess number 4 1620, 5 1622, 7 1624 is indicated respectively byreusing ARI & TPC. Finally, a 4-bit HARQ-ACK codebook 420 is formed forHARQ process number 4, 5, 6 and 7.

In one implementation, a field in DCI is to trigger HARQ-ACKtransmission for a subset of HARQ processes or all HARQ processes. If itis per subset HARQ-ACK transmission, it can further indicate the subsettriggered. For example, as shown in Table 1, assuming 2 bit is used asthe trigger, one option is to indicate HARQ-ACK transmission for 16 HARQprocesses, HARQ processes 0-7 and HARQ processes 8-15. The remainingcode point can indicate HARQ-ACK transmission for HARQ processes 0-3.Another option is to indicate HARQ-ACK transmission for 16 HARQprocesses, HARQ processes 0-7, HARQ processes 0-5 and HARQ processes0-3, assuming HARQ process number can be managed to form a HARQ-ACKcodebook, e.g. relying on second HARQ process number as proposed inabove implementation.

TABLE 1 Trigger for subset or full set of HARQ-ACK feedback code optionoption 00 0-15  0-15 01 0-7  0-7 10 8-15 0-5 11 0-3  0-3

Semi-Static HARQ-ACK Transmission Based on Configured PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACKTimings

Semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook is simply formed based on configuredPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timings, e.g., the number of HARQ-ACK is same as thepossible candidates of PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timings, which can beconfigured by RRC. The semi-static UL-DL-configurations for TDD is usedto further reduce the codebook size. In NR-U, it is likely some DCIscheduling a PDSCH may not include valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, whichimpacts semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook.

In one implementation, to account for DCI without validPDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, HARQ-ACK bits for X slots are always added tothe HARQ-ACK codebook derived by valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timings. X canbe configured by RRC, determined based on UE capability, or fixed in thespecification. For example, the interval of X slots should be equal toor larger than UE processing time for PDSCH reception, so that UE hastime to get HARQ-ACK for all possible PDSCHs located in the ending slotsof a previous channel occupation time (COT) in the worst case. HARQ-ACKfor the above X slots can be sorted in time, alternatively, C-DAI fieldcan be used to order the HARQ-ACK for the PDSCH in the X slots. Forexample, for a DCI without valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, ARI and TPCfield is actually useless, and these bits can be reinterpreted toindicate C-DAI, so that it doesn't increase the DCI size. As shown inFIG. 17, 1700 , HARQ-ACK for 3 slots are added to 5 bit HARQ-ACKcodebook derived by valid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timings.

In one implementation, slot format indicator (SFI) signaled by DCIformat 2_0 can be used to reduce the codebook size. For a SLIVconflicted with ‘U’ symbol in SFI, no HARQ-ACK is allocated. In oneimplementation, if DL or UL BWP switching happens, HARQ-ACK of impactedPDSCH can be removed from the semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook. In oneimplementation, for a slot outside gNB-initiated COT, no HARQ-ACK isallocated.

Increase Opportunities for HARQ-ACK Transmission

A DCI may schedule a PDSCH or only trigger HARQ-ACK transmission. TheDCI will indicate the PUCCH resources used for HARQ-ACK transmission.The DCI can indicate a LBT type used for starting PUCCH transmission. Ifthe indicated PUCCH is inside a COT, one-shot LBT, e.g. 25 us CCA can beused by UE to start PUCCH transmission. If the indicated PUCCH isimmediately following a DL transmission within N_(S) us, e.g. N_(S)equals to 16, UE can transmit the PUCCH without doing LBT, denoted asLBT CAT-1. If the indicated PUCCH is outside a COT, CAT-4 LBT has to beused by UE to start PUCCH transmission. The DCI can indicate one fromthe three LBT types used for starting PUCCH transmission, e.g. 2 bitscan be signaled in the DCI. Alternatively, UE derives the LBT type tostart PUCCH transmission by the DCI and COT sharing information, e.g.slot format information (SFI) by DCI 2_0. To check a PUCCH is within aCOT or not, if a ‘F’ symbol indicated by SFI may mean a period notbelonging the COT, condition for the check is that the PUCCH isoverlapped with at least one symbol indicated as ‘U’ symbol by SFI.Alternatively, a PUCCH overlapped with either ‘F’ symbol and/or ‘U’symbol by SFI is considered within a COT.

In one implementation, the DCI can indicate 1-bit information on whetherCAT-1 LBT is used. If the 1-bit information indicate the use of CAT-1LBT, UE uses CAT-1 LBT to start PUCCH transmission. If not, UE checksCOT sharing information. If the indicated PUCCH is within a COT, UE usesCAT-2 LBT to start PUCCH transmission; otherwise, CAT-4 LBT is used.

In one implementation, the DCI can indicate 1-bit information todifferentiate CAT-1 LBT and CAT-4 LBT. If the 1-bit information indicatethe use of CAT-1 LBT, UE uses CAT-1 LBT to start PUCCH transmission. Ifthe 1-bit information indicate the use of CAT-4 LBT, UE checks COTsharing information and derives a LBT type.

In one implementation, if CAT-4 LBT is indicated by the DCI, UE checksCOT sharing information and derives a LBT type to start PUCCHtransmission. If the indicated PUCCH is within a COT, UE changes LBT toCAT-2 LBT to start PUCCH transmission; otherwise, CAT-4 LBT is used. gNBcan indicate the boundary of CAT-1 LBT, e.g. by DCI 2_0 together withthe indication of slot format. For example, the boundary can be thestart of a symbol. Alternatively, the boundary can be N_(S) us after thestart of a symbol. In this case, if the indicated PUCCH start right fromthe boundary, UE changes LBT to CAT-1 LBT to start PUCCH transmission;if the indicated PUCCH is within a COT but not start from the boundary,UE changes LBT to CAT-2 LBT to start PUCCH transmission; otherwise,CAT-4 LBT is used. In one implementation, if CAT-2 LBT is indicated bythe DCI, and if the indicated PUCCH starts right from the boundary, UEchanges LBT to CAT-1 LBT to start PUCCH transmission; otherwise, CAT-2LBT is used.

In one implementation, there exist multiple DL to UL and UL to DLswitching points. Multiple DCI 2_0 can be transmitted to indicate theslot formats. A DCI 2_0 can only indicate one boundary for CAT-1 LBT.Preferably, a DCI 2_0 only indicates the first boundary for CAT-1 LBT atleast N_(b) symbols after the DCI 2_0. N_(b) is to account for UEprocessing time, propagation delay and etc. N_(b) is predefined orconfigured by RRC signaling. The boundary can be indicated as an offsetfrom the timing of the DCI 2_0. The boundary can be indicated as anoffset from the first ‘F’ symbol after the DCI 2_0. The boundary can beindicated as an offset from the first ‘F’ or ‘U’ symbol after the DCI2_0. The boundary can be indicated as an offset from the first ‘F’symbol LBT at least N_(b) symbols after the DCI 2_0. The boundary can beindicated as an offset from the first ‘F’ or ‘U’ symbol LBT at leastN_(b) symbols after the DCI 2_0.

To provide more opportunities of PUCCH for the mitigation of LBTfailure, a DCI can indicate multiple values of K1 for PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACKtimings, so that multiple PUCCH resources for HARQ-ACK transmission canbe indicated by the DCI. In one implementation, the same LBT typesapplies to all PUCCHs corresponding to the multiple values of K1. In oneimplementation, UE needs to individually derive the LBT type applies toeach PUCCH corresponding to the multiple values of K1. As shown in FIG.18, 1800 , the first PUCCH 1810 of the two PUCCHs 1810, 1820 indicatedby the DCI is within a COT and use CAT-2 LBT. While, the second PUCCH1820 of the two PUCCHs 1810, 1820 indicated by the DCI is outside theCOT and use CAT-4 LBT.

Group Triggering HARQ-ACK Transmission and Retransmission

The HARQ-ACK for a PDSCH scheduled in a COT may not be able to transmitin the same COT. As shown in FIG. 19, 1900 , this is caused by thelimitation of UE processing time and/or propagation delay, etc. In thiscase, CAT-4 LBT can be used to start the PUCCH transmission carryingHARQ-ACK. However, it is general understanding that CAT-4 LBT may failsright before the PUCCH resource due to the channel contention from otherdevices. Methods to increase the probability for PUCCH transmission canbe considered.

In one implementation, if the indicated PUCCH is inside a COT, the DCIonly indicates a single value of K1 for PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, e.g. asingle PUCCH is indicated. Otherwise, the DCI can indicate multiplevalues of K1 for PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timings, e.g. multiple PUCCHs areindicated with CAT-4, which increases the channel access opportunities.

To provide more opportunities of PUCCH for the mitigation of LBTfailure, if gNB can initiate a second COT before the previouslyindicated PUCCH 1910 using CAT-4 LBT and share the second COT to UE, UEcan change LBT type of U2 1910 from CAT-4 to CAT-1 or CAT-2. In oneimplementation, if the indicated PUCCH is within the 2^(nd) COT, UEchanges LBT to CAT-2 LBT to start PUCCH transmission; otherwise, CAT-4LBT is used. In one implementation, if the indicated PUCCH start rightfrom the boundary of CAT-1 LBT, UE changes LBT to CAT-1 LBT to startPUCCH transmission; if the indicated PUCCH is within a COT but not startfrom the boundary, UE changes LBT to CAT-2 LBT to start PUCCHtransmission; otherwise, CAT-4 LBT is used.

It is possible that, when gNB initiates a second COT, there is notenough time to share COT to a previous indicated PUCCH. Further, whengNB initiates a second COT, it is possible that the start timing of thesecond COT is even after the previous indicated PUCCH. In the slotcarrying the previous indicated PUCCH, typically multiple PUCCHs forHARQ-ACK transmissions of different UEs are multiplexed in the slot. Dueto the contention of other devices, it is possible one or multiple UEsfail in CAT-4 LBT hence the PUCCHs are dropped. To save overhead intriggering HARQ-ACK retransmission, it is beneficial that gNB cantrigger the above one or multiple UEs failed in LBT for PUCCH by agroup-triggering DCI (GT-DCI). DT-DCI can be DCI 2_0 which indicatesslot formats and acts as a group trigger. GT-DCI can be another DCI justacting as a group trigger. The same PUCCH frequency resource as theprevious indicated PUCCH for a UE can still be allocated to the UE. Oneissue is to determine the time resource of the new PUCCH.

In one implementation, a time offset is indicated by the GT-DCI. For agroup of UEs fail in PUCCH transmission with CAT-4 LBT derived by theprevious indicated PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing K1, timing of the new PUCCH isthen derived by K1 and the time offset Δ. E.g. slot timing of the newPUCCH is K1+A. If the new PUCCH resource in slot K1+A is overlapped with‘F’ symbol and/or ‘U’ symbol by SFI, UE can actually transmit the PUCCH.One special value of the offset field can be used to indicate thatgrouping triggering is disabled. For the group of UEs, CAT-2 LBT can beused to start new PUCCH transmissions. Alternatively, assuming DCI 2_0of the 2^(nd) COT indicates the boundary of CAT-1 LBT, for the group ofUEs, if the indicated PUCCH of a UE start right from the boundary ofCAT-1 LBT, the UE changes LBT to CAT-1 LBT to start PUCCH transmission;otherwise, CAT-2 LBT is used.

As shown in FIG. 20, 2000 , a UE is allocated a previous PUCCH resource2010 following PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing K1, but fails in PUCCH transmission(illustrated using an X on elements 2010). After receiving DCI 2_0 inthe 2^(nd) COT which indicate an offset 4, UE checks and know slotcorresponding to slot K1+4 is a valid uplink in the second COT.Therefore, UE can transmit PUCCH with CAT-1 or CAT-2 LBT in slot K1+4 inthe same PUCCH frequency resource as the previous PUCCH.

As shown in FIG. 21, 2100 , a UE is allocated a previous PUCCH resourcefollowing PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing K1. gNB initiates a second COT andtransmits DL transmissions in the beginning slot(s), which blocks theLBT operation for the previous PUCCH at UE. In fact, after decoding ofDCI 2_0 in the 2^(nd) COT which indicates an offset 2, UE checks andknow slot corresponding to slot K1+2 is a valid uplink. Therefore, UEcan know that gNB intentionally shifts the previous PUCCH to a new timeposition. UE transmits PUCCH with CAT-1 or CAT-2 LBT in slot K1+2 in thesame PUCCH frequency resource as the previous PUCCH resource.

Systems and System Components

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 2200.For purposes of convenience and without limitation, the example system100 is described in the context of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and FifthGeneration (5G) New Radio (NR) communication standards as defined by theThird Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technical specifications.More specifically, the wireless communication system 2200 is describedin the context of a Non-Standalone (NSA) networks that incorporate bothLTE and NR, for example, E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial RadioAccess)-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) networks, and NE-DC networks.However, the wireless communication system 2200 may also be a Standalone(SA) network that incorporates only NR. Furthermore, other types ofcommunication standards are possible, including future 3GPP systems(e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g.,WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), or the like.

As shown by FIG. 22 , the system 2200 includes UE 2201 a and UE 2201 b(collectively referred to as “UEs 2201” or “UE 2201”). In this example,UEs 2201 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such asconsumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, featurephones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE)devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices,onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobiledata terminals (MDTs), Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS),electronic/engine control units (ECUs), electronic/engine controlmodules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules,engine management systems (EMS), networked or “smart” appliances, MTCdevices, M2M, IoT devices, and/or the like.

In some implementations, any of the UEs 2201 may be IoT UEs, which maycomprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applicationsutilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologiessuch as M2M or MTC for exchanging data with an MTC server or device viaa PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks.The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange ofdata. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which mayinclude uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within theInternet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs mayexecute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, statusupdates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 2201 may be configured to connect, for example, communicativelycouple, with RAN 2210. In implementations, the RAN 2210 may be an NG RANor a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. Asused herein, the term “NG RAN” or the like may refer to a RAN 2210 thatoperates in an NR or 5G system 2200, and the term “E-UTRAN” or the likemay refer to a RAN 2210 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 2200. TheUEs 2201 utilize connections (or channels) 2203 and 2204, respectively,each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer(discussed in further detail below).

In this example, the connections 2203 and 2204 are illustrated as an airinterface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent withcellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMAnetwork protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a3GPP LTE protocol, an Advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) protocol, aLTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U), a 5G protocol, a NRprotocol, an NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) protocol,and/or any of the other communications protocols discussed herein. Inimplementations, the UEs 2201 may directly exchange communication datavia a ProSe interface 2205. The ProSe interface 2205 may alternativelybe referred to as a SL interface 2205 and may comprise one or morelogical channels, including but not limited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, aPSDCH, and a PSBCH.

The UE 2201 b is shown to be configured to access an AP 2206 (alsoreferred to as “WLAN node 2206,” “WLAN 2206,” “WLAN Termination 2206,”“WT 2206” or the like) via connection 2207. The connection 2207 cancomprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistentwith any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 2206 would comprise awireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In this example, the AP 2206 is shownto be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core networkof the wireless system (described in further detail below). In variousimplementations, the UE 2201 b, RAN 2210, and AP 2206 may be configuredto utilize LWA operation and/or LWIP operation. The LWA operation mayinvolve the UE 2201 b in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by a RAN node2211 a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation mayinvolve the UE 2201 b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 2207)via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g.,IP packets) sent over the connection 2207. IPsec tunneling may includeencapsulating the entirety of original IP packets and adding a newpacket header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packets.

The RAN 2210 can include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 2211 a and2211 b (collectively referred to as “RAN nodes 2211” or “RAN node 2211”)that enable the connections 2203 and 2204. As used herein, the terms“access node,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment thatprovides the radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivitybetween a network and one or more users. These access nodes can bereferred to as BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs,and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial accesspoints) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographicarea (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the likemay refer to a RAN node 2211 that operates in an NR or 5G system 2200(for example, a gNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may referto a RAN node 2211 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 2200 (e.g., aneNB). According to various implementations, the RAN nodes 2211 may beimplemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as amacrocell base station, and/or a low power (LP) base station forproviding femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smallercoverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared tomacrocells.

In some implementations, all or parts of the RAN nodes 2211 may beimplemented as one or more software entities running on server computersas part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/ora virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these implementations, the CRANor vBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a PDCP splitwherein RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other L2protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 2211; a MAC/PHYsplit wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by theCRAN/vBBUP and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 2211;or a “lower PHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upperportions of the PHY layer are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lowerportions of the PHY layer are operated by individual RAN nodes 2211.This virtualized framework allows the freed-up processor cores of theRAN nodes 2211 to perform other virtualized applications. In someimplementations, an individual RAN node 2211 may represent individualgNB-DUs that are connected to a gNB-CU via individual F1 interfaces (notshown by FIG. 22 ). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs may includeone or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., FIG. 25 ), and thegNB-CU may be operated by a server that is located in the RAN 2210 (notshown) or by a server pool in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP.Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 2211 may benext generation eNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRAuser plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UEs 2201,and are connected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 2420 of FIG. 24 ) via an NGinterface (discussed infra).

In V2X scenarios one or more of the RAN nodes 2211 may be or act asRSUs. The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportationinfrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may beimplemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relativelystationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referredto as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may bereferred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB maybe referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. In one example, an RSUis a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located ona roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs2201 (vUEs 2201). The RSU may also include internal data storagecircuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media,as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicularand pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct ShortRange Communications (DSRC) band to provide very low latencycommunications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance,traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSUmay operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned lowlatency communications, as well as other cellular communicationsservices. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fihotspot (2.4 GHz band) and/or provide connectivity to one or morecellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Thecomputing device(s) and some or all of the radiofrequency circuitry ofthe RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoorinstallation, and may include a network interface controller to providea wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controllerand/or a backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 2211 can terminate the air interface protocol andcan be the first point of contact for the UEs 2201. In someimplementations, any of the RAN nodes 2211 can fulfill various logicalfunctions for the RAN 2210 including, but not limited to, radio networkcontroller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink anddownlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling,and mobility management.

In implementations, the UEs 2201 can be configured to communicate usingOFDM communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes2211 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance withvarious communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SC-FDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelinkcommunications), although the scope of the implementations is notlimited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality oforthogonal subcarriers.

In some implementations, a downlink resource grid can be used fordownlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 2211 to the UEs 2201,while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid canbe a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resourceblocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels toresource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection ofresource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent thesmallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. Thereare several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed usingsuch resource blocks.

According to various implementations, the UEs 2201 and the RAN nodes2211 communicate data (for example, transmit and receive) data over alicensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum” and/or the“licensed band”) and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to asthe “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”). The licensedspectrum may include channels that operate in the frequency range ofapproximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas the unlicensedspectrum may include the 5 GHz band. NR in the unlicensed spectrum maybe referred to as NR-U, and LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may bereferred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UEs 2201 and the RAN nodes2211 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. In theseimplementations, the UEs 2201 and the RAN nodes 2211 may perform one ormore known medium-sensing operations and/or carrier-sensing operationsin order to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensedspectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupied prior to transmitting inthe unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensing operations may beperformed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

LBT is a mechanism whereby equipment (for example, UEs 2201 RAN nodes2211, etc.) senses a medium (for example, a channel or carrierfrequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when aspecific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The mediumsensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED todetermine the presence or absence of other signals on a channel in orderto determine if a channel is occupied or clear. This LBT mechanismallows cellular/LAA networks to coexist with incumbent systems in theunlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensingRF energy across an intended transmission band for a period of time andcomparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the incumbent systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based onIEEE 802.11 technologies. WLAN employs a contention-based channel accessmechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobilestation (MS) such as UE 2201, AP 2206, or the like) intends to transmit,the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. Additionally, abackoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions in situations where morethan one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the sametime. The backoff mechanism may be a counter that is drawn randomlywithin the CWS, which is increased exponentially upon the occurrence ofcollision and reset to a minimum value when the transmission succeeds.The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA/CA ofWLAN. In some implementations, the LBT procedure for DL or ULtransmission bursts including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions,respectively, may have an LAA contention window that is variable inlength between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are minimum and maximumvalues for the CWSs for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for an LAAtransmission may be 9 microseconds (s); however, the size of the CWS anda MCOT (for example, a transmission burst) may be based on governmentalregulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanisms are built upon CA technologies of LTE-Advancedsystems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a CC. A CC mayhave a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz and a maximum of fiveCCs can be aggregated, and therefore, a maximum aggregated bandwidth is100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can bedifferent for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lowerthan the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCscan have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In TDD systems, thenumber of CCs as well as the bandwidths of each CC is usually the samefor DL and UL.

CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs.The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCson different frequency bands will experience different pathloss. Aprimary service cell or PCell may provide a PCC for both UL and DL, andmay handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells arereferred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual SCC forboth UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, whilechanging the PCC may require the UE 2201 to undergo a handover. In LAA,eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in the unlicensedspectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCells are assistedby a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configuredwith more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on theconfigured LAA SCells indicating different PUSCH starting positionswithin a same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 2201.The PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resourceallocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It mayalso inform the UEs 2201 about the transport format, resourceallocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel.Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channelresource blocks to the UE 2201 b within a cell) may be performed at anyof the RAN nodes 2211 based on channel quality information fed back fromany of the UEs 2201. The downlink resource assignment information may besent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 2201.

The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey the control information. Before beingmapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may firstbe organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using asub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmittedusing one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to ninesets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four QuadraturePhase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCHcan be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of theDCI and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCHformats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregationlevel, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some implementations may use concepts for resource allocation forcontrol channel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some implementations may utilize an EPDCCH thatuses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCHmay be transmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to above, each ECCEmay correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known asan EREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN nodes 2211 may be configured to communicate with one another viainterface 2212. In implementations where the system 2200 is an LTEsystem (e.g., when CN 2220 is an EPC 2320 as in FIG. 23 ), the interface2212 may be an X2 interface 2212. The X2 interface may be definedbetween two or more RAN nodes 2211 (e.g., two or more eNBs and the like)that connect to EPC 2220, and/or between two eNBs connecting to EPC2220. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 userplane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). TheX2-U may provide flow control mechanisms for user data packetstransferred over the X2 interface, and may be used to communicateinformation about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example,the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information for user datatransferred from a MeNB to an SeNB; information about successful insequence delivery of PDCP PDUs to a UE 2201 from an SeNB for user data;information of PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to a UE 2201;information about a current minimum desired buffer size at the SeNB fortransmitting to the UE user data; and the like. The X2-C may provideintra-LTE access mobility functionality, including context transfersfrom source to target eNBs, user plane transport control, etc.; loadmanagement functionality; as well as inter-cell interferencecoordination functionality.

In implementations where the system 2200 is a 5G or NR system (e.g.,when CN 2220 is an 5GC 2420 as in FIG. 24 ), the interface 2212 may bean Xn interface 2212. The Xn interface is defined between two or moreRAN nodes 2211 (e.g., two or more gNBs and the like) that connect to 5GC2220, between a RAN node 2211 (e.g., a gNB) connecting to 5GC 2220 andan eNB, and/or between two eNBs connecting to 5GC 2220. In someimplementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U)interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may providenon-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide dataforwarding and flow control functionality. The Xn-C may providemanagement and error handling functionality, functionality to manage theXn-C interface; mobility support for UE 2201 in a connected mode (e.g.,CM-CONNECTED) including functionality to manage the UE mobility forconnected mode between one or more RAN nodes 2211. The mobility supportmay include context transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 2211to new (target) serving RAN node 2211; and control of user plane tunnelsbetween old (source) serving RAN node 2211 to new (target) serving RANnode 2211. A protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport networklayer built on Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layeron top of a UDP and/or IP layer(s) to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-Cprotocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol(referred to as Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport networklayer that is built on SCTP. The SCTP may be on top of an IP layer, andmay provide the guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Inthe transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliverthe signaling PDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stackand/or the Xn-C protocol stack may be same or similar to the user planeand/or control plane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

The RAN 2210 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network-inthis implementation, core network (CN) 2220. The CN 2220 may comprise aplurality of network elements 2222, which are configured to offervarious data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers(e.g., users of UEs 2201) who are connected to the CN 2220 via the RAN2210. The components of the CN 2220 may be implemented in one physicalnode or separate physical nodes including components to read and executeinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In someimplementations, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of theabove-described network node functions via executable instructionsstored in one or more computer-readable storage mediums (described infurther detail below). A logical instantiation of the CN 2220 may bereferred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portionof the CN 2220 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFVarchitectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one or morenetwork functions, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, ontophysical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard serverhardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems canbe used to execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one ormore EPC components/functions.

Generally, the application server 2230 may be an element offeringapplications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g.,UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 2230can also be configured to support one or more communication services(e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, socialnetworking services, etc.) for the UEs 2201 via the EPC 2220.

In implementations, the CN 2220 may be a 5GC (referred to as “5GC 2220”or the like), and the RAN 2210 may be connected with the CN 2220 via anNG interface 2213. In implementations, the NG interface 2213 may besplit into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 2214, whichcarries traffic data between the RAN nodes 2211 and a UPF, and the SIcontrol plane (NG-C) interface 2215, which is a signaling interfacebetween the RAN nodes 2211 and AMFs. Implementations where the CN 2220is a 5GC 2220 are discussed in more detail with regard to FIG. 24 .

In implementations, the CN 2220 may be a 5G CN (referred to as “5GC2220” or the like), while in other implementations, the CN 2220 may bean EPC). Where CN 2220 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 2220” or thelike), the RAN 2210 may be connected with the CN 2220 via an S1interface 2213. In implementations, the S1 interface 2213 may be splitinto two parts, an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 2214, which carriestraffic data between the RAN nodes 2211 and the S-GW, and the S1-MMEinterface 2215, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes2211 and MMEs.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example architecture of a system 2300 including afirst CN 2320, in accordance with various implementations. In thisexample, system 2300 may implement the LTE standard wherein the CN 2320is an EPC 2320 that corresponds with CN 2220 of FIG. 22 . Additionally,the UE 2301 may be the same or similar as the UEs 2201 of FIG. 22 , andthe E-UTRAN 2310 may be a RAN that is the same or similar to the RAN2210 of FIG. 22 , and which may include RAN nodes 2211 discussedpreviously. The CN 2320 may comprise MMEs 2321, an S-GW 2322, a P-GW2323, a HSS 2324, and a SGSN 2325.

The MMEs 2321 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacySGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the currentlocation of a UE 2301. The MMEs 2321 may perform various MM proceduresto manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection andtracking area list management. MM (also referred to as “EPS MM” or “EMM”in E-UTRAN systems) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods,data storage, etc. That are used to maintain knowledge about a presentlocation of the UE 2301, provide user identity confidentiality, and/orperform other like services to users/subscribers. Each UE 2301 and theMME 2321 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MM context may beestablished in the UE 2301 and the MME 2321 when an attach procedure issuccessfully completed. The MM context may be a data structure ordatabase object that stores MM-related information of the UE 2301. TheMMEs 2321 may be coupled with the HSS 2324 via an S6a reference point,coupled with the SGSN 2325 via an S3 reference point, and coupled withthe S-GW 2322 via an S11 reference point.

The SGSN 2325 may be a node that serves the UE 2301 by tracking thelocation of an individual UE 2301 and performing security functions. Inaddition, the SGSN 2325 may perform Inter-EPC node signaling formobility between 2G/3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks: PDN and S-GWselection as specified by the MMEs 2321; handling of UE 2301 time zonefunctions as specified by the MMEs 2321; and MME selection for handoversto E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between the MMEs2321 and the SGSN 2325 may enable user and bearer information exchangefor inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle and/or active states.

The HSS 2324 may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The EPC 2320 may comprise one orseveral HSSs 2324, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 2324 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 2324 and theMMEs 2321 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication datafor authenticating/authorizing user access to the EPC 2320 between HSS2324 and the MMEs 2321.

The S-GW 2322 may terminate the S1 interface 2213 (“SI-U” in FIG. 23 )toward the RAN 2310, and routes data packets between the RAN 2310 andthe EPC 2320. In addition, the S-GW 2322 may be a local mobility anchorpoint for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor forinter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawfulintercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The S11 referencepoint between the S-GW 2322 and the MMEs 2321 may provide a controlplane between the MMEs 2321 and the S-GW 2322. The S-GW 2322 may becoupled with the P-GW 2323 via an S5 reference point.

The P-GW 2323 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN 2330. The P-GW2323 may route data packets between the EPC 2320 and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 2230 (alternativelyreferred to as an “AF”) via an IP interface 2225 (see e.g., FIG. 22 ).In implementations, the P-GW 2323 may be communicatively coupled to anapplication server (application server 2230 of FIG. 22 or PDN 2330 inFIG. 23 ) via an IP communications interface 2225 (see, e.g., FIG. 22 ).The S5 reference point between the P-GW 2323 and the S-GW 2322 mayprovide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 2323and the S-GW 2322. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 2322relocation due to UE 2301 mobility and if the S-GW 2322 needs to connectto a non-collocated P-GW 2323 for the required PDN connectivity. TheP-GW 2323 may further include a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGireference point between the P-GW 2323 and the packet data network (PDN)2330 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intraoperator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMSservices. The P-GW 2323 may be coupled with a PCRF 2326 via a Gxreference point.

PCRF 2326 is the policy and charging control element of the EPC 2320. Ina non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 2326 in the HomePublic Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE 2301's InternetProtocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roamingscenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFsassociated with a UE 2301's IP-CAN session, a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) withinan HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land MobileNetwork (VPLMN). The PCRF 2326 may be communicatively coupled to theapplication server 2330 via the P-GW 2323. The application server 2330may signal the PCRF 2326 to indicate a new service flow and select theappropriate QoS and charging parameters. The PCRF 2326 may provisionthis rule into a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI,which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the applicationserver 2330. The Gx reference point between the PCRF 2326 and the P-GW2323 may allow for the transfer of QoS policy and charging rules fromthe PCRF 2326 to PCEF in the P-GW 2323. An Rx reference point may residebetween the PDN 2330 (or “AF 2330”) and the PCRF 2326.

FIG. 24 illustrates an architecture of a system 2400 including a secondCN 2420 in accordance with various implementations. The system 2400 isshown to include a UE 2401, which may be the same or similar to the UEs2201 and UE 2301 discussed previously; a (R)AN 2410, which may be thesame or similar to the RAN 2210 and RAN 2310 discussed previously, andwhich may include RAN nodes 2211 discussed previously; and a DN 2403,which may be, for example, operator services, Internet access or 3rdparty services, and a 5GC 2420. The 5GC 2420 may include an AUSF 2422;an AMF 2421; a SMF 2424; a NEF 2423; a PCF 2426; a NRF 2425; a UDM 2427;an AF 2428; a UPF 2402; and a NSSF 2429.

The UPF 2402 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RATmobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to DN 2403, anda branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 2402 mayalso perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection,enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets(UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handlingfor a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rateenforcement), perform Uplink Traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, andperform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering. UPF 2402 may include an uplink classifier to support routingtraffic flows to a data network. The DN 2403 may represent variousnetwork operator services, Internet access, or third party services. DN2403 may include, or be similar to, application server 2230 discussedpreviously. The UPF 2402 may interact with the SMF 2424 via an N4reference point between the SMF 2424 and the UPF 2402.

The AUSF 2422 may store data for authentication of UE 2401 and handleauthentication-related functionality. The AUSF 2422 may facilitate acommon authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 2422may communicate with the AMF 2421 via an N12 reference point between theAMF 2421 and the AUSF 2422; and may communicate with the UDM 2427 via anN13 reference point between the UDM 2427 and the AUSF 2422.Additionally, the AUSF 2422 may exhibit an Nausf service-basedinterface.

The AMF 2421 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., forregistering UE 2401, etc.), connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-relatedevents, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 2421 may bea termination point for the N11 reference point between the AMF 2421 andthe SMF 2424. The AMF 2421 may provide transport for SM messages betweenthe UE 2401 and the SMF 2424, and act as a transparent proxy for routingSM messages. AMF 2421 may also provide transport for SMS messagesbetween UE 2401 and an SMSF (not shown by FIG. 24 ). AMF 2421 may act asSEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 2422 and the UE 2401,receipt of an intermediate key that was established as a result of theUE 2401 authentication process. Where USIM based authentication is used,the AMF 2421 may retrieve the security material from the AUSF 2422. AMF2421 may also include a SCM function, which receives a key from the SEAthat it uses to derive access-network specific keys. Furthermore, AMF2421 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may includeor be an N2 reference point between the (R)AN 2410 and the AMF 2421; andthe AMF 2421 may be a termination point of NAS (N1) signaling, andperform NAS ciphering and integrity protection.

AMF 2421 may also support NAS signaling with a UE 2401 over an N3 IWFinterface. The N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrustedentities. N3IWF may be a termination point for the N2 interface betweenthe (R)AN 2410 and the AMF 2421 for the control plane, and may be atermination point for the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 2410 andthe UPF 2402 for the user plane. As such, the AMF 2421 may handle N2signaling from the SMF 2424 and the AMF 2421 for PDU sessions and QoS,encapsulate/de-encapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunneling, mark N3user-plane packets in the uplink, and enforce QoS corresponding to N3packet marking taking into account QoS requirements associated with suchmarking received over N2. N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlinkcontrol-plane NAS signaling between the UE 2401 and AMF 2421 via an N1reference point between the UE 2401 and the AMF 2421, and relay uplinkand downlink user-plane packets between the UE 2401 and UPF 2402. TheN3IWF also provides mechanisms for IPsec tunnel establishment with theUE 2401. The AMF 2421 may exhibit an Namf service-based interface, andmay be a termination point for an N14 reference point between two AMFs2421 and an N17 reference point between the AMF 2421 and a 5G-EIR (notshown by FIG. 24 ).

The UE 2401 may need to register with the AMF 2421 in order to receivenetwork services. RM is used to register or deregister the UE 2401 withthe network (e.g., AMF 2421), and establish a UE context in the network(e.g., AMF 2421). The UE 2401 may operate in an RM-REGISTERED state oran RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM DEREGISTERED state, the UE 2401 isnot registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 2421 holds novalid location or routing information for the UE 2401 so the UE 2401 isnot reachable by the AMF 2421. In the RM REGISTERED state, the UE 2401is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 2421 may holda valid location or routing information for the UE 2401 so the UE 2401is reachable by the AMF 2421. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 2401may perform mobility Registration Update procedures, perform periodicRegistration Update procedures triggered by expiration of the periodicupdate timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 2401 is stillactive), and perform a Registration Update procedure to update UEcapability information or to re-negotiate protocol parameters with thenetwork, among others.

The AMF 2421 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 2401, whereeach RM context is associated with a specific access to the network. TheRM context may be a data structure, database object, etc. That indicatesor stores, inter alia, a registration state per access type and theperiodic update timer. The AMF 2421 may also store a 5GC MM context thatmay be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. Invarious implementations, the AMF 2421 may store a CE mode B Restrictionparameter of the UE 2401 in an associated MM context or RM context. TheAMF 2421 may also derive the value, when needed, from the UE's usagesetting parameter already stored in the UE context (and/or MM/RMcontext).

CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection betweenthe UE 2401 and the AMF 2421 over the N1 interface. The signalingconnection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 2401and the CN 2420, and comprises both the signaling connection between theUE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection or UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPPaccess) and the N2 connection for the UE 2401 between the AN (e.g., RAN2410) and the AMF 2421. The UE 2401 may operate in one of two CM states,CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When the UE 2401 is operating in theCM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 2401 may have no NAS signaling connectionestablished with the AMF 2421 over the N1 interface, and there may be(R)AN 2410 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for theUE 2401. When the UE 2401 is operating in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode,the UE 2401 may have an established NAS signaling connection with theAMF 2421 over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 2410 signalingconnection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for the UE 2401.Establishment of an N2 connection between the (R)AN 2410 and the AMF2421 may cause the UE 2401 to transition from CM-IDLE mode toCM-CONNECTED mode, and the UE 2401 may transition from the CM-CONNECTEDmode to the CM-IDLE mode when N2 signaling between the (R)AN 2410 andthe AMF 2421 is released.

The SMF 2424 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment,modify and release, including tunnel maintain between UPF and AN node);UE IP address allocation and management (including optionalauthorization); selection and control of UP function; configuringtraffic steering at UPF to route traffic to proper destination;termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controllingpart of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events andinterface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages;downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sentvia AMF over N2 to AN; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM mayrefer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” mayrefer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables theexchange of PDUs between a UE 2401 and a data network (DN) 2403identified by a Data Network Name (DNN). PDU sessions may be establishedupon UE 2401 request, modified upon UE 2401 and 5GC 2420 request, andreleased upon UE 2401 and 5GC 2420 request using NAS SM signalingexchanged over the N1 reference point between the UE 2401 and the SMF2424. Upon request from an application server, the 5GC 2420 may triggera specific application in the UE 2401. In response to receipt of thetrigger message, the UE 2401 may pass the trigger message (or relevantparts/information of the trigger message) to one or more identifiedapplications in the UE 2401. The identified application(s) in the UE2401 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. The SMF 2424 maycheck whether the UE 2401 requests are compliant with user subscriptioninformation associated with the UE 2401. In this regard, the SMF 2424may retrieve and/or request to receive update notifications on SMF 2424level subscription data from the UDM 2427.

The SMF 2424 may include the following roaming functionality: handlinglocal enforcement to apply QoS SLAs (VPLMN); charging data collectionand charging interface (VPLMN); lawful intercept (in VPLMN for SM eventsand interface to LI system); and support for interaction with externalDN for transport of signaling for PDU sessionauthorization/authentication by external DN. An N16 reference pointbetween two SMFs 2424 may be included in the system 2400, which may bebetween another SMF 2424 in a visited network and the SMF 2424 in thehome network in roaming scenarios. Additionally, the SMF 2424 mayexhibit the Nsmf service-based interface.

The NEF 2423 may provide means for securely exposing the services andcapabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party,internal exposure/re-exposure, Application Functions (e.g., AF 2428),edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such implementations,the NEF 2423 may authenticate, authorize, and/or throttle the AFs. NEF2423 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 2428 andinformation exchanged with internal network functions. For example, theNEF 2423 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal5GC information. NEF 2423 may also receive information from othernetwork functions (NFs) based on exposed capabilities of other networkfunctions. This information may be stored at the NEF 2423 as structureddata, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The storedinformation can then be re-exposed by the NEF 2423 to other NFs and AFs,and/or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF2423 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 2425 may support service discovery functions, receive NFdiscovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of thediscovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 2425 also maintainsinformation of available NF instances and their supported services. Asused herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like mayrefer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 2425 may exhibit theNnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 2426 may provide policy rules to control plane function(s) toenforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to governnetwork behavior. The PCF 2426 may also implement an FE to accesssubscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of theUDM 2427. The PCF 2426 may communicate with the AMF 2421 via an N15reference point between the PCF 2426 and the AMF 2421, which may includea PCF 2426 in a visited network and the AMF 2421 in case of roamingscenarios. The PCF 2426 may communicate with the AF 2428 via an N5reference point between the PCF 2426 and the AF 2428; and with the SMF2424 via an N7 reference point between the PCF 2426 and the SMF 2424.The system 2400 and/or CN 2420 may also include an N24 reference pointbetween the PCF 2426 (in the home network) and a PCF 2426 in a visitednetwork. Additionally, the PCF 2426 may exhibit an Npcf service-basedinterface.

The UDM 2427 may handle subscription-related information to support thenetwork entities' handling of communication sessions, and may storesubscription data of UE 2401. For example, subscription data may becommunicated between the UDM 2427 and the AMF 2421 via an N8 referencepoint between the UDM 2427 and the AMF. The UDM 2427 may include twoparts, an application FE and a UDR (the FE and UDR are not shown by FIG.24 ). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM2427 and the PCF 2426, and/or structured data for exposure andapplication data (including PFDs for application detection, applicationrequest information for multiple UEs 2401) for the NEF 2423. The Nudrservice-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM2427, PCF 2426, and NEF 2423 to access a particular set of the storeddata, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, andsubscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDMmay include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials,location management, subscription management, and so on. Severaldifferent front ends may serve the same user in different transactions.The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR andperforms authentication credential processing, user identificationhandling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, andsubscription management. The UDR may interact with the SMF 2424 via anN10 reference point between the UDM 2427 and the SMF 2424. UDM 2427 mayalso support SMS management, wherein an SMS-FE implements the similarapplication logic as discussed previously. Additionally, the UDM 2427may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 2428 may provide application influence on traffic routing,provide access to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework forpolicy control. The NCE may be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 2420 andAF 2428 to provide information to each other via NEF 2423, which may beused for edge computing implementations. In such implementations, thenetwork operator and third party services may be hosted close to the UE2401 access point of attachment to achieve an efficient service deliverythrough the reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transportnetwork. For edge computing implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF2402 close to the UE 2401 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 2402to DN 2403 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UEsubscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 2428.In this way, the AF 2428 may influence UPF (re)selection and trafficrouting. Based on operator deployment, when AF 2428 is considered to bea trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 2428 to interactdirectly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 2428 may exhibit an Nafservice-based interface.

The NSSF 2429 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE2401. The NSSF 2429 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping tothe subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 2429 may also determine theAMF set to be used to serve the UE 2401, or a list of candidate AMF(s)2421 based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF2425. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 2401may be triggered by the AMF 2421 with which the UE 2401 is registered byinteracting with the NSSF 2429, which may lead to a change of AMF 2421.The NSSF 2429 may interact with the AMF 2421 via an N22 reference pointbetween AMF 2421 and NSSF 2429; and may communicate with another NSSF2429 in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown by FIG.24 ). Additionally, the NSSF 2429 may exhibit an Nnssf service-basedinterface.

As discussed previously, the CN 2420 may include an SMSF, which may beresponsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relayingSM messages to/from the UE 2401 to/from other entities, such as anSMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS-router. The SMS may also interact with AMF 2421 andUDM 2427 for a notification procedure that the UE 2401 is available forSMS transfer (e.g., set a UE not reachable flag, and notifying UDM 2427when UE 2401 is available for SMS).

The CN 120 may also include other elements that are not shown by FIG. 24, such as a Data Storage system/architecture, a 5G-EIR, a SEPP, and thelike. The Data Storage system may include a SDSF, an UDSF, and/or thelike. Any NF may store and retrieve unstructured data into/from the UDSF(e.g., UE contexts), via N18 reference point between any NF and the UDSF(not shown by FIG. 24 ). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storingtheir respective unstructured data or individual NFs may each have theirown UDSF located at or near the individual NFs. Additionally, the UDSFmay exhibit an Nudsf service-based interface (not shown by FIG. 24 ).The 5G-EIR may be an NF that checks the status of PEI for determiningwhether particular equipment/entities are blacklisted from the network;and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topologyhiding, message filtering, and policing on inter-PLMN control planeinterfaces.

Additionally, there may be many more reference points and/orservice-based interfaces between the NF services in the NFs; however,these interfaces and reference points have been omitted from FIG. 24 forclarity. In one example, the CN 2420 may include an Nx interface, whichis an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME 2321) and the AMF2421 in order to enable interworking between CN 2420 and CN 2320. Otherexample interfaces/reference points may include an N5g-EIR service-basedinterface exhibited by a 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between the NRFin the visited network and the NRF in the home network; and an N31reference point between the NSSF in the visited network and the NSSF inthe home network.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 2500 inaccordance with various implementations. The infrastructure equipment2500 (or “system 2500”) may be implemented as a base station, radiohead, RAN node such as the RAN nodes 2211 and/or AP 2206 shown anddescribed previously, application server(s) 2230, and/or any otherelement/device discussed herein. In other examples, the system 2500 canbe implemented in or by a UE.

The system 2500 includes application circuitry 2505, baseband circuitry2510, one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs) 2515, memory circuitry2520, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 2525, power teecircuitry 2530, network controller circuitry 2535, network interfaceconnector 2540, satellite positioning circuitry 2545, and user interface2550. In some implementations, the device 2500 may include additionalelements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor,or input/output (I/O) interface. In other implementations, thecomponents described below may be included in more than one device. Forexample, said circuitries may be separately included in more than onedevice for CRAN, vBBU, or other like implementations.

Application circuitry 2505 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as SPI, I2C or universal programmable serialinterface module, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose input/output (I/O or IO),memory card controllers such as Secure Digital (SD) MultiMediaCard (MMC)or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile IndustryProcessor Interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 2505 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 2500. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 2505 may include, for example,one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors,one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISCMachine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing(CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSP), one ormore FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or moremicroprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. Insome implementations, the application circuitry 2505 may comprise, ormay be, a special-purpose processor/controller to operate according tothe various implementations herein. As examples, the processor(s) ofapplication circuitry 2505 may include one or more may include one ormore Apple A-series processors, Intel Pentium®, Core®, or Xeon®processor(s); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s),Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors; ARM-basedprocessor(s) licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd. Such as the ARM Cortex-Afamily of processors and the ThunderX2® provided by Cavium™, Inc.; aMIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. Such as MIPS WarriorP-class processors; and/or the like. In some implementations, the system2500 may not utilize application circuitry 2505, and instead may includea special-purpose processor/controller to process IP data received froman EPC or 5GC, for example.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 2505 may include oneor more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors,programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardwareaccelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deeplearning (DL) accelerators. As examples, the programmable processingdevices may be one or more a field-programmable devices (FPDs) such asfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the like; programmable logicdevices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs(HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like;programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, thecircuitry of application circuitry 2505 may comprise logic blocks orlogic fabric, and other interconnected resources that may be programmedto perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods,functions, etc. Of the various implementations discussed herein. In suchimplementations, the circuitry of application circuitry 2505 may includememory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.In look-up-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 2510 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 2510 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 27 .

User interface circuitry 2550 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 2500 or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 2500. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a nonvolatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 2515 may comprise a millimeter wave(mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-mmWaveRFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs mayinclude connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g.,antenna array 2711 of FIG. 27 infra), and the RFEM may be connected tomultiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave andsub-mmWave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical RFEM2515, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 2520 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 2520 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 2525 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 2530 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 2500 using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 2535 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 2500 via network interfaceconnector 2540 using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 2535 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the networkcontroller circuitry 2535 may include multiple controllers to provideconnectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 2545 includes circuitry to receive and decodesignals transmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satelliteconstellations (or GNSS) include United States' Global PositioningSystem (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the EuropeanUnion's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, aregional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., Navigationwith Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System(QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integratedby Satellite (DORIS), etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 2545comprises various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devicessuch as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like tofacilitate OTA communications) to communicate with components of apositioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.In some implementations, the positioning circuitry 2545 may include aMicro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) ICthat uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking/estimationwithout GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 2545 may also be partof, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 2510 and/or RFEMs 2515 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 2545 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 2505, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN nodes2211, etc.), or the like.

The components shown by FIG. 25 may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and/orinterconnect (IX) technologies such as industry standard architecture(ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe),or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietarybus, for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems maybe included, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, point to pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 26 illustrates an example of a platform 2600 (or “device 2600”) inaccordance with various implementations. In implementations, thecomputer platform 2600 may be suitable for use as UEs 2201, 2301, 2401,application servers 2230, and/or any other element/device discussedherein. The platform 2600 may include any combinations of the componentsshown in the example. The components of platform 2600 may be implementedas integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronicdevices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof adapted in the computer platform 2600, or ascomponents otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system.The block diagram of FIG. 26 is intended to show a high level view ofcomponents of the computer platform 2600. However, some of thecomponents shown may be omitted, additional components may be present,and different arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherimplementations.

Application circuitry 2605 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I2Cor universal programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-countersincluding interval and watchdog timers, general purpose I/O, memory cardcontrollers such as SD MMC or similar, USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces,and JTAG test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 2605 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 2600. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 2505 may include, for example,one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one ormore GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, oneor more CISC processors, one or more DSP, one or more FPGAs, one or morePLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, amultithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embeddedprocessor, some other known processing element, or any suitablecombination thereof. In some implementations, the application circuitry2505 may comprise, or may be, a special-purpose processor/controller tooperate according to the various implementations herein.

As examples, the processor(s) of application circuitry 2605 may includean Apple A-series processor. The processors of the application circuitry2605 may also be one or more of an Intel® Architecture Core™ basedprocessor, such as a Quark™, an Atom™, an i3, an i5, an i7, or anMCU-class processor, or another such processor available from Intel®Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif.; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen®processor(s) or Accelerated Processing Units (APUs); Snapdragon™processor(s) from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc.®Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)™ processor(s); a MIPS-baseddesign from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as MIPS Warrior M-class,Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; an ARM-based designlicensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R,and Cortex-M family of processors; or the like. In some implementations,the application circuitry 2605 may be a part of a system on a chip (SoC)in which the application circuitry 2605 and other components are formedinto a single integrated circuit.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 2605 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more a field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, the circuitry ofapplication circuitry 2605 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric,and other interconnected resources that may be programmed to performvarious functions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. Ofthe various implementations discussed herein. In such implementations,the circuitry of application circuitry 2605 may include memory cells(e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, staticmemory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.))used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. In look-up tables(LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 2610 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 2610 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 27 .

The RFEMs 2615 may comprise a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one ormore sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In someimplementations, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physicallyseparated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to oneor more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g., antenna array 2711 of FIG.27 infra), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. Inalternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-mmWave radio functionsmay be implemented in the same physical RFEM 2615, which incorporatesboth mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 2620 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 2620 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 2620 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 2620 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (DDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 2620 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 2605. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 2620 may include one or more mass storage devices,which may include, inter alia, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), harddisk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 2600 may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®.

Removable memory circuitry 2623 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. Used to couple portabledata storage devices with the platform 2600. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 2600 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 2600. The externaldevices connected to the platform 2600 via the interface circuitryinclude sensor circuitry 2621 and electro-mechanical components (EMCs)2622, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memorycircuitry 2623.

The sensor circuitry 2621 include devices, modules, or subsystems whosepurpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send theinformation (sensor data) about the detected events to some other adevice, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, interalia, inertia measurement units (IMUs) comprising accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) comprising 3-axisaccelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; level sensors;flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors;barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capturedevices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light detection andranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiationdetector and the like), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonictransceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.

EMCs 2622 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is toenable platform 2600 to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, EMCs 2622may be configured to generate and send messages/signaling to othercomponents of the platform 2600 to indicate a current state of the EMCs2622. Examples of the EMCs 2622 include one or more power switches,relays including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or solid staterelays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), an audible soundgenerator, a visual warning device, motors (e.g., DC motors, steppermotors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks,and/or other like electro-mechanical components. In implementations,platform 2600 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 2622 based onone or more captured events and/or instructions or control signalsreceived from a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 2600 with positioning circuitry 2645. The positioning circuitry2645 includes circuitry to receive and decode signalstransmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples ofnavigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include United States'GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China'sBeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., NAVIC), Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.),or the like. The positioning circuitry 2645 comprises various hardwareelements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters,amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate OTAcommunications) to communicate with components of a positioning network,such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In someimplementations, the positioning circuitry 2645 may include a Micro-PNTIC that uses a master timing clock to perform positiontracking/estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry2645 may also be part of, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 2510and/or RFEMs 2615 to communicate with the nodes and components of thepositioning network. The positioning circuitry 2645 may also provideposition data and/or time data to the application circuitry 2605, whichmay use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure(e.g., radio base stations), for turn-by-turn navigation applications,or the like.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 2600 with Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 2640. NFCcircuitry 2640 is configured to provide contactless, short-rangecommunications based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards,wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication betweenNFC circuitry 2640 and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 2600(e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”). NFC circuitry 2640 comprises an NFCcontroller coupled with an antenna element and a processor coupled withthe NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip/IC providing NFCfunctionalities to the NFC circuitry 2640 by executing NFC controllerfirmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by theprocessor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmwaremay be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element toemit short-range RF signals. The RF signals may power a passive NFC tag(e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmitstored data to the NFC circuitry 2640, or initiate data transfer betweenthe NFC circuitry 2640 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphoneor an NFC-enabled POS terminal) that is proximate to the platform 2600.

The driver circuitry 2646 may include software and hardware elementsthat operate to control particular devices that are embedded in theplatform 2600, attached to the platform 2600, or otherwisecommunicatively coupled with the platform 2600. The driver circuitry2646 may include individual drivers allowing other components of theplatform 2600 to interact with or control various input/output (I/O)devices that may be present within, or connected to, the platform 2600.For example, driver circuitry 2646 may include a display driver tocontrol and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver tocontrol and allow access to a touchscreen interface of the platform2600, sensor drivers to obtain sensor readings of sensor circuitry 2621and control and allow access to sensor circuitry 2621, EMC drivers toobtain actuator positions of the EMCs 2622 and/or control and allowaccess to the EMCs 2622, a camera driver to control and allow access toan embedded image capture device, audio drivers to control and allowaccess to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 2625 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 2625”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 2600. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 2610, the PMIC 2625 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 2625 may often be included when the platform 2600 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 2630, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE 2201, 2301, 2401.

In some implementations, the PMIC 2625 may control, or otherwise be partof, various power saving mechanisms of the platform 2600. For example,if the platform 2600 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the platform 2600 may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is nodata traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the platform2600 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects fromthe network and does not perform operations such as channel qualityfeedback, handover, etc. The platform 2600 goes into a very low powerstate and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The platform 2600 maynot receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving modemay allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longerthan a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). Duringthis time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and maypower down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 2630 may power the platform 2600, although in some examplesthe platform 2600 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 2630 maybe a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 2630may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 2630 may be a “smart battery,”which includes or is coupled with a Battery Management System (BMS) orbattery monitoring integrated circuitry. The BMS may be included in theplatform 2600 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 2630.The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 2630 toprovide failure predictions, such as the state of health (SoH) and thestate of function (SoF) of the battery 2630. The BMS may communicate theinformation of the battery 2630 to the application circuitry 2605 orother components of the platform 2600. The BMS may also include ananalog-to-digital (ADC) convertor that allows the application circuitry2605 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 2630 or the currentflow from the battery 2630. The battery parameters may be used todetermine actions that the platform 2600 may perform, such astransmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and thelike.

A power block, or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid maybe coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 2630. In some examples,the power block XS30 may be replaced with a wireless power receiver toobtain the power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in thecomputer platform 2600. In these examples, a wireless battery chargingcircuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitschosen may depend on the size of the battery 2630, and thus, the currentrequired. The charging may be performed using the Airfuel standardpromulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standardpromulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence chargingstandard promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

User interface circuitry 2650 includes various input/output (I/O)devices present within, or connected to, the platform 2600, and includesone or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with theplatform 2600 and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enableperipheral component interaction with the platform 2600. The userinterface circuitry 2650 includes input device circuitry and outputdevice circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or morephysical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard,keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset,and/or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for showing information or otherwise conveyinginformation, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or otherlike information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/orcombinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one ormore simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators(e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs,or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g.,Liquid Chrystal Displays (LCD), LED displays, quantum dot displays,projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimediaobjects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation ofthe platform 2600. The output device circuitry may also include speakersor other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and/or the like. In someimplementations, the sensor circuitry 2621 may be used as the inputdevice circuitry (e.g., an image capture device, motion capture device,or the like) and one or more EMCs may be used as the output devicecircuitry (e.g., an actuator to provide haptic feedback or the like). Inanother example, NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller coupled withan antenna element and a processing device may be included to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, anon-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

Although not shown, the components of platform 2600 may communicate withone another using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, whichmay include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx,PCIe, a Time-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or anynumber of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX,for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/D systems may beincluded, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, point-to-pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 27 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry 2710 andradio front end modules (RFEM) 2715 in accordance with variousimplementations. The baseband circuitry 2710 corresponds to the basebandcircuitry 2510 and 2610 of FIGS. 25 and 26 , respectively. The RFEM 2715corresponds to the RFEM 2515 and 2615 of FIGS. 25 and 26 , respectively.As shown, the RFEMs 2715 may include Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry2706, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 2708, antenna array 2711 coupledtogether at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 2710 includes circuitry and/or control logicconfigured to carry out various radio/network protocol and radio controlfunctions that enable communication with one or more radio networks viathe RF circuitry 2706. The radio control functions may include, but arenot limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some implementations,modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 2710 mayinclude Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellationmapping/demapping functionality. In some implementations,encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 2710 may includeconvolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low DensityParity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Implementations ofmodulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are notlimited to these examples and may include other suitable functionalityin other implementations. The baseband circuitry 2710 is configured toprocess baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RFcircuitry 2706 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signalpath of the RF circuitry 2706. The baseband circuitry 2710 is configuredto interface with application circuitry 2505/XS205 (see FIGS. 25 and 26) for generation and processing of the baseband signals and forcontrolling operations of the RF circuitry 2706. The baseband circuitry2710 may handle various radio control functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic of the basebandcircuitry 2710 may include one or more single or multi-core processors.For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G basebandprocessor 2704A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 2704B, a 5G/NR basebandprocessor 2704C, or some other baseband processor(s) 2704D for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In otherimplementations, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors2704A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 2704G andexecuted via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 2704E. In otherimplementations, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors2704A-D may be provided as hardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs,etc.) loaded with the appropriate bit streams or logic blocks stored inrespective memory cells. In various implementations, the memory 2704Gmay store program code of a real-time OS (RTOS), which when executed bythe CPU 2704E (or other baseband processor), is to cause the CPU 2704E(or other baseband processor) to manage resources of the basebandcircuitry 2710, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of the RTOS may includeOperating System Embedded (OSE)™ provided by Enea®, Nucleus RTOS™provided by Mentor Graphics®, Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX)provided by Mentor Graphics®, ThreadX™ provided by Express Logic®,FreeRTOS, REX OS provided by Qualcomm®, OKL4 provided by Open Kernel(OK) Labs®, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein.In addition, the baseband circuitry 2710 includes one or more audiodigital signal processor(s) (DSP) 2704F. The audio DSP(s) 2704F includeelements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and mayinclude other suitable processing elements in other implementations.

In some implementations, each of the processors 2704A-XT104E includerespective memory interfaces to send/receive data to/from the memory2704G. The baseband circuitry 2710 may further include one or moreinterfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, suchas an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to thebaseband circuitry 2710; an application circuitry interface tosend/receive data to/from the application circuitry 2505/XS205 of FIGS.25 -XT); an RF circuitry interface to send/receive data to/from RFcircuitry 2706 of FIG. 27 ; a wireless hardware connectivity interfaceto send/receive data to/from one or more wireless hardware elements(e.g., Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®/Bluetooth®Low Energy components, Wi-Fi® components, and/or the like); and a powermanagement interface to send/receive power or control signals to/fromthe PMIC 2625.

In alternate implementations (which may be combined with the abovedescribed implementations), baseband circuitry 2710 comprises one ormore digital baseband systems, which are coupled with one another via aninterconnect subsystem and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, andan interface subsystem. The digital baseband subsystems may also becoupled to a digital baseband interface and a mixed-signal basebandsubsystem via another interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnectsubsystems may include a bus system, point-to-point connections,network-on-chip (NOC) structures, and/or some other suitable bus orinterconnect technology, such as those discussed herein. The audiosubsystem may include DSP circuitry, buffer memory, program memory,speech processing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry suchas analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analogcircuitry including one or more of amplifiers and filters, and/or otherlike components. In an aspect of the present disclosure, basebandcircuitry 2710 may include protocol processing circuitry with one ormore instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide controlfunctions for the digital baseband circuitry and/or radio frequencycircuitry (e.g., the radio front end modules 2715).

Although not shown by FIG. 27 , in some implementations, the basebandcircuitry 2710 includes individual processing device(s) to operate oneor more wireless communication protocols (e.g., a “multi-protocolbaseband processor” or “protocol processing circuitry”) and individualprocessing device(s) to implement PHY layer functions. In theseimplementations, the PHY layer functions include the aforementionedradio control functions. In these implementations, the protocolprocessing circuitry operates or implements various protocollayers/entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In afirst example, the protocol processing circuitry may operate LTEprotocol entities and/or 5G/NR protocol entities when the basebandcircuitry 2710 and/or RF circuitry 2706 are part of mmWave communicationcircuitry or some other suitable cellular communication circuitry. Inthe first example, the protocol processing circuitry would operate MAC,RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, theprotocol processing circuitry may operate one or more IEEE-basedprotocols when the baseband circuitry 2710 and/or RF circuitry 2706 arepart of a Wi-Fi communication system. In the second example, theprotocol processing circuitry would operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical linkcontrol (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may includeone or more memory structures (e.g., 2704G) to store program code anddata for operating the protocol functions, as well as one or moreprocessing cores to execute the program code and perform variousoperations using the data. The baseband circuitry 2710 may also supportradio communications for more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of the baseband circuitry 2710 discussedherein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-down substrateincluding one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged ICsoldered to a main circuit board or a multi-chip module containing twoor more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuitry2710 may be suitably combined in a single chip or chipset, or disposedon a same circuit board. In another example, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 2710 and RF circuitry2706 may be implemented together such as, for example, a system on achip (SoC) or System-in-Package (SiP). In another example, some or allof the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 2710 may beimplemented as a separate SoC that is communicatively coupled with andRF circuitry 2706 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 2706). In yetanother example, some or all of the constituent components of thebaseband circuitry 2710 and the application circuitry 2505/XS205 may beimplemented together as individual SoCs mounted to a same circuit board(e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

In some implementations, the baseband circuitry 2710 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some implementations, the baseband circuitry 2710 maysupport communication with an E-UTRAN or other WMAN, a WLAN, a WPAN.Implementations in which the baseband circuitry 2710 is configured tosupport radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may bereferred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 2706 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious implementations, the RF circuitry 2706 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. To facilitate the communication with thewireless network. RF circuitry 2706 may include a receive signal path,which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 2708 and provide baseband signals to the basebandcircuitry 2710. RF circuitry 2706 may also include a transmit signalpath, which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signalsprovided by the baseband circuitry 2710 and provide RF output signals tothe FEM circuitry 2708 for transmission.

In some implementations, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry2706 may include mixer circuitry 2706 a, amplifier circuitry 2706 b andfilter circuitry 2706 c. In some implementations, the transmit signalpath of the RF circuitry 2706 may include filter circuitry 2706 c andmixer circuitry 2706 a. RF circuitry 2706 may also include synthesizercircuitry 2706 d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixercircuitry 2706 a of the receive signal path and the transmit signalpath. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 2706 a of the receivesignal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received fromthe FEM circuitry 2708 based on the synthesized frequency provided bysynthesizer circuitry 2706 d. The amplifier circuitry 2706 b may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filtercircuitry 2706 c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter(BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-convertedsignals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals maybe provided to the baseband circuitry 2710 for further processing. Insome implementations, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequencybaseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In someimplementations, mixer circuitry 2706 a of the receive signal path maycomprise passive mixers, although the scope of the implementations isnot limited in this respect.

In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 2706 a of the transmitsignal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals basedon the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 2706d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 2708. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 2710 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 2706 c.

In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 2706 a of the receivesignal path and the mixer circuitry 2706 a of the transmit signal pathmay include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some implementations,the mixer circuitry 2706 a of the receive signal path and the mixercircuitry 2706 a of the transmit signal path may include two or moremixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley imagerejection). In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 2706 a of thereceive signal path and the mixer circuitry 2706 a of the transmitsignal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and directupconversion, respectively. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry2706 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 2706 a of thetransmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some implementations, the output baseband signals and the inputbaseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope ofthe implementations is not limited in this respect. In some alternateimplementations, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternateimplementations, the RF circuitry 2706 may include analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and thebaseband circuitry 2710 may include a digital baseband interface tocommunicate with the RF circuitry 2706.

In some dual-mode implementations, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe implementations is not limited in this respect.

In some implementations, the synthesizer circuitry 2706 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the implementations is not limited in this respect as othertypes of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example,synthesizer circuitry 2706 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, afrequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loopwith a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 2706 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 2706 a of the RFcircuitry 2706 based on a frequency input and a divider control input.In some implementations, the synthesizer circuitry 2706 d may be afractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some implementations, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 2710 orthe application circuitry 2505/XS205 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some implementations, a divider control input (e.g., N)may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated bythe application circuitry 2505/XS205.

Synthesizer circuitry 2706 d of the RF circuitry 2706 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some implementations, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some implementations, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example implementations,the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In theseimplementations, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCOperiod up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number ofdelay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negativefeedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line isone VCO cycle.

In some implementations, synthesizer circuitry 2706 d may be configuredto generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherimplementations, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someimplementations, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). Insome implementations, the RF circuitry 2706 may include an IQ/polarconverter.

FEM circuitry 2708 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antennaarray 2711, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 2706 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 2708 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 2706 for transmission by oneor more of antenna elements of antenna array 2711. In variousimplementations, the amplification through the transmit or receivesignal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 2706, solely in theFEM circuitry 2708, or in both the RF circuitry 2706 and the FEMcircuitry 2708.

In some implementations, the FEM circuitry 2708 may include a TX/RXswitch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. TheFEM circuitry 2708 may include a receive signal path and a transmitsignal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 2708 mayinclude an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplifiedreceived RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 2706). Thetransmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 2708 may include a poweramplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RFcircuitry 2706), and one or more filters to generate RF signals forsubsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antennaarray 2711.

The antenna array 2711 comprises one or more antenna elements, each ofwhich is configured convert electrical signals into radio waves totravel through the air and to convert received radio waves intoelectrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided bythe baseband circuitry 2710 is converted into analog RF signals (e.g.,modulated waveform) that will be amplified and transmitted via theantenna elements of the antenna array 2711 including one or more antennaelements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional,direction, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formedin a multitude of arranges as are known and/or discussed herein. Theantenna array 2711 may comprise microstrip antennas or printed antennasthat are fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuitboards. The antenna array 2711 may be formed in as a patch of metal foil(e.g., a patch antenna) in a variety of shapes, and may be coupled withthe RF circuitry 2706 and/or FEM circuitry 2708 using metal transmissionlines or the like.

Processors of the application circuitry 2505/XS205 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 2710 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 2710, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 2505/XS205 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received fromthese layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., TCP andUDP layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a RRC layer,described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 maycomprise a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, described infurther detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a PHYlayer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 28 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implementedin a wireless communication device according to various implementations.In particular, FIG. 28 includes an arrangement 2800 showinginterconnections between various protocol layers/entities. The followingdescription of FIG. 28 is provided for various protocol layers/entitiesthat operate in conjunction with the 5G/NR system standards and LTEsystem standards, but some or all of the aspects of FIG. 28 may beapplicable to other wireless communication network systems as well.

The protocol layers of arrangement 2800 may include one or more of PHY2810, MAC 2820, RLC 2830, PDCP 2840, SDAP 2847, RRC 2855, and NAS layer2857, in addition to other higher layer functions not illustrated. Theprotocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g.,items 2859, 2856, 2850, 2849, 2845, 2835, 2825, and 2815 in FIG. 28 )that may provide communication between two or more protocol layers.

The PHY 2810 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 2805 thatmay be received from or transmitted to one or more other communicationdevices. The physical layer signals 2805 may comprise one or morephysical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 2810 mayfurther perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC),power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization andhandover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, suchas the RRC 2855. The PHY 2810 may still further perform error detectionon the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation ofphysical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physicalchannels, and MIMO antenna processing. In implementations, an instanceof PHY 2810 may process requests from and provide indications to aninstance of MAC 2820 via one or more PHY-SAP 2815. According to someimplementations, requests and indications communicated via PHY-SAP 2815may comprise one or more transport channels.

Instance(s) of MAC 2820 may process requests from, and provideindications to, an instance of RLC 2830 via one or more MAC-SAPs 2825.These requests and indications communicated via the MAC-SAP 2825 maycomprise one or more logical channels. The MAC 2820 may perform mappingbetween the logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MACSDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY2810 via the transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or morelogical channels from TBs delivered from the PHY 2810 via transportchannels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through HARQ, and logical channelprioritization.

Instance(s) of RLC 2830 may process requests from and provideindications to an instance of PDCP 2840 via one or more radio linkcontrol service access points (RLC-SAP) 2835. These requests andindications communicated via RLC-SAP 2835 may comprise one or more RLCchannels. The RLC 2830 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation,including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), andAcknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 2830 may execute transfer of upper layerprotocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation, segmentation andreassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers. The RLC 2830 mayalso execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transfers,reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect duplicatedata for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM datatransfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers, and perform RLCre-establishment.

Instance(s) of PDCP 2840 may process requests from and provideindications to instance(s) of RRC 2855 and/or instance(s) of SDAP 2847via one or more packet data convergence protocol service access points(PDCP-SAP) 2845. These requests and indications communicated viaPDCP-SAP 2845 may comprise one or more radio bearers. The PDCP 2840 mayexecute header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCPSequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUsat re-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layerSDUs at re-establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLCAM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protectionand integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-baseddiscard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering,deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

Instance(s) of SDAP 2847 may process requests from and provideindications to one or more higher layer protocol entities via one ormore SDAP-SAP 2849. These requests and indications communicated viaSDAP-SAP 2849 may comprise one or more QoS flows. The SDAP 2847 may mapQoS flows to DRBs, and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and ULpackets. A single SDAP entity 2847 may be configured for an individualPDU session. In the UL direction, the NG-RAN 2210 may control themapping of QoS Flows to DRB(s) in two different ways, reflective mappingor explicit mapping. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 2847 of a UE 2201may monitor the QFIs of the DL packets for each DRB, and may apply thesame mapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, theSDAP 2847 of the UE 2201 may map the UL packets belonging to the QoSflows(s) corresponding to the QoS flow ID(s) and PDU session observed inthe DL packets for that DRB. To enable reflective mapping, the NG-RAN2410 may mark DL packets over the Uu interface with a QoS flow ID. Theexplicit mapping may involve the RRC 2855 configuring the SDAP 2847 withan explicit QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, which may be stored andfollowed by the SDAP 2847. In implementations, the SDAP 2847 may only beused in NR implementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

The RRC 2855 may configure, via one or more management service accesspoints (M-SAP), aspects of one or more protocol layers, which mayinclude one or more instances of PHY 2810, MAC 2820, RLC 2830, PDCP 2840and SDAP 2847. In implementations, an instance of RRC 2855 may processrequests from and provide indications to one or more NAS entities 2857via one or more RRC-SAPs 2856. The main services and functions of theRRC 2855 may include broadcast of system information (e.g., included inMIBs or SIBs related to the NAS), broadcast of system informationrelated to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenanceand release of an RRC connection between the UE 2201 and RAN 2210 (e.g.,RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration,maintenance and release of point to point Radio Bearers, securityfunctions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurementconfiguration for UE measurement reporting. The MIBs and SIBs maycomprise one or more IEs, which may each comprise individual data fieldsor data structures.

The NAS 2857 may form the highest stratum of the control plane betweenthe UE 2201 and the AMF 2421. The NAS 2857 may support the mobility ofthe UEs 2201 and the session management procedures to establish andmaintain IP connectivity between the UE 2201 and a P-GW in LTE systems.

According to various implementations, one or more protocol entities ofarrangement 2800 may be implemented in UEs 2201, RAN nodes 2211, AMF2421 in NR implementations or MME 2321 in LTE implementations, UPF 2402in NR implementations or S-GW 2322 and P-GW 2323 in LTE implementations,or the like to be used for control plane or user plane communicationsprotocol stack between the aforementioned devices. In suchimplementations, one or more protocol entities that may be implementedin one or more of UE 2201, gNB 2211, AMF 2421, etc. May communicate witha respective peer protocol entity that may be implemented in or onanother device using the services of respective lower layer protocolentities to perform such communication. In some implementations, agNB-CU of the gNB 2211 may host the RRC 2855, SDAP 2847, and PDCP 2840of the gNB that controls the operation of one or more gNB-DUs, and thegNB-DUs of the gNB 2211 may each host the RLC 2830, MAC 2820, and PHY2810 of the gNB 2211.

In a first example, a control plane protocol stack may comprise, inorder from highest layer to lowest layer, NAS 2857, RRC 2855, PDCP 2840,RLC 2830, MAC 2820, and PHY 2810. In this example, upper layers 2860 maybe built on top of the NAS 2857, which includes an IP layer 2861, anSCTP 2862, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 2863.

In NR implementations, the AP 2863 may be an NG application protocollayer (NGAP or NG-AP) 2863 for the NG interface 2213 defined between theNG-RAN node 2211 and the AMF 2421, or the AP 2863 may be an Xnapplication protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 2863 for the Xn interface2212 that is defined between two or more RAN nodes 2211.

The NG-AP 2863 may support the functions of the NG interface 2213 andmay comprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An NG-AP EP may be a unit ofinteraction between the NG-RAN node 2211 and the AMF 2421. The NG-AP2863 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services (e.g.,services related to a UE 2201) and non-UE-associated services (e.g.,services related to the whole NG interface instance between the NG-RANnode 2211 and AMF 2421). These services may include functions including,but not limited to: a paging function for the sending of paging requeststo NG-RAN nodes 2211 involved in a particular paging area; a UE contextmanagement function for allowing the AMF 2421 to establish, modify,and/or release a UE context in the AMF 2421 and the NG-RAN node 2211; amobility function for UEs 2201 in ECM-CONNECTED mode for intra-systemHOs to support mobility within NG-RAN and inter-system HOs to supportmobility from/to EPS systems; a NAS Signaling Transport function fortransporting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 2201 and AMF 2421; aNAS node selection function for determining an association between theAMF 2421 and the UE 2201; NG interface management function(s) forsetting up the NG interface and monitoring for errors over the NGinterface; a warning message transmission function for providing meansto transfer warning messages via NG interface or cancel ongoingbroadcast of warning messages; a Configuration Transfer function forrequesting and transferring of RAN configuration information (e.g., SONinformation, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RANnodes 2211 via CN 2220; and/or other like functions.

The XnAP 2863 may support the functions of the Xn interface 2212 and maycomprise XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. TheXnAP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the NG RAN 2211 (or E-UTRAN 2310), such as handoverpreparation and cancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures,UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN pagingprocedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The XnAPglobal procedures may comprise procedures that are not related to aspecific UE 2201, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures,NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, and the like.

In LTE implementations, the AP 2863 may be an SI Application Protocollayer (SI-AP) 2863 for the S1 interface 2213 defined between an E-UTRANnode 2211 and an MME, or the AP 2863 may be an X2 application protocollayer (X2AP or X2-AP) 2863 for the X2 interface 2212 that is definedbetween two or more E-UTRAN nodes 2211.

The S1 Application Protocol layer (S1-AP) 2863 may support the functionsof the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, theS1-AP may comprise S1-AP EPs. An S1-AP EP may be a unit of interactionbetween the E-UTRAN node 2211 and an MME 2321 within an LTE CN 2220. TheS1-AP 2863 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services andnon UE-associated services. These services perform functions including,but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UEcapability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RANInformation Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The X2AP 2863 may support the functions of the X2 interface 2212 and maycomprise X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. TheX2AP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the E-UTRAN 2220, such as handover preparation andcancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures, UE contextretrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, dualconnectivity related procedures, and the like. The X2AP globalprocedures may comprise procedures that are not related to a specific UE2201, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indicationprocedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, andthe like.

The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 2862 mayprovide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP orXnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTEimplementations). The SCTP 2862 may ensure reliable delivery ofsignaling messages between the RAN node 2211 and the AMF 2421/MME 2321based, in part, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP 2861. TheInternet Protocol layer (IP) 2861 may be used to perform packetaddressing and routing functionality. In some implementations the IPlayer 2861 may use point-to-point transmission to deliver and conveyPDUs. In this regard, the RAN node 2211 may comprise L2 and L1 layercommunication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME/AMF toexchange information.

In a second example, a user plane protocol stack may comprise, in orderfrom highest layer to lowest layer, SDAP 2847, PDCP 2840, RLC 2830, MAC2820, and PHY 2810. The user plane protocol stack may be used forcommunication between the UE 2201, the RAN node 2211, and UPF 2402 in NRimplementations or an S-GW 2322 and P-GW 2323 in LTE implementations. Inthis example, upper layers 2851 may be built on top of the SDAP 2847,and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer(UDP/IP) 2852, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocolfor the user plane layer (GTP-U) 2853, and a User Plane PDU layer (UPPDU) 2863.

The transport network layer 2854 (also referred to as a “transportlayer”) may be built on IP transport, and the GTP-U 2853 may be used ontop of the UDP/IP layer 2852 (comprising a UDP layer and IP layer) tocarry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also referred to as the“Internet layer”) may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packetsin any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example.

The GTP-U 2853 may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS corenetwork and between the radio access network and the core network. Theuser data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPPformats, for example. The UDP/IP 2852 may provide checksums for dataintegrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the sourceand destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected dataflows. The RAN node 2211 and the S-GW 2322 may utilize an SI-U interfaceto exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer(e.g., PHY 2810), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 2820, RLC 2830, PDCP 2840,and/or SDAP 2847), the UDP/IP layer 2852, and the GTP-U 2853. The S-GW2322 and the P-GW 2323 may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange userplane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer, an L2 layer, theUDP/IP layer 2852, and the GTP-U 2853. As discussed previously, NASprotocols may support the mobility of the UE 2201 and the sessionmanagement procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity betweenthe UE 2201 and the P-GW 2323.

Moreover, although not shown by FIG. 28 , an application layer may bepresent above the AP 2863 and/or the transport network layer 2854. Theapplication layer may be a layer in which a user of the UE 2201, RANnode 2211, or other network element interacts with software applicationsbeing executed, for example, by application circuitry 2505 orapplication circuitry 2605, respectively. The application layer may alsoprovide one or more interfaces for software applications to interactwith communications systems of the UE 2201 or RAN node 2211, such as thebaseband circuitry 2710. In some implementations the IP layer and/or theapplication layer may provide the same or similar functionality aslayers 5-7, or portions thereof, of the Open Systems Interconnection(OSI) model (e.g., OSI Layer 7—the application layer, OSI Layer 6—thepresentation layer, and OSI Layer 5—the session layer).

FIG. 29 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious implementations. The components of the CN 2320 may beimplemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes includingcomponents to read and execute instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium). In implementations, the components of CN 2420 may beimplemented in a same or similar manner as discussed herein with regardto the components of CN 2320. In some implementations, NFV is utilizedto virtualize any or all of the above-described network node functionsvia executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readablestorage mediums (described in further detail below). A logicalinstantiation of the CN 2320 may be referred to as a network slice 2901,and individual logical instantiations of the CN 2320 may providespecific network capabilities and network characteristics. A logicalinstantiation of a portion of the CN 2320 may be referred to as anetwork sub-slice 2902 (e.g., the network sub-slice 2902 is shown toinclude the P-GW 2323 and the PCRF 2326).

As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the likemay refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer toa concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. A network instance may refer to informationidentifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection androuting in case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. Anetwork slice instance may refer to a set of network functions (NFs)instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networkingresources) required to deploy the network slice.

With respect to 5G systems (see, e.g., FIG. 24 ), a network slice alwayscomprises a RAN part and a CN part. The support of network slicingrelies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled bydifferent PDU sessions. The network can realize the different networkslices by scheduling and also by providing different L1/L2configurations. The UE 2401 provides assistance information for networkslice selection in an appropriate RRC message, if it has been providedby NAS. While the network can support large number of slices, the UEneed not support more than 8 slices simultaneously.

A network slice may include the CN 2420 control plane and user planeNFs, NG-RANs 2410 in a serving PLMN, and a N3IWF functions in theserving PLMN. Individual network slices may have different S-NSSAIand/or may have different SSTs. NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, andeach network slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slicesmay differ for supported features and network functions optimizations,and/or multiple network slice instances may deliver the sameservice/features but for different groups of UEs 2401 (e.g., enterpriseusers). For example, individual network slices may deliver differentcommitted service(s) and/or may be dedicated to a particular customer orenterprise. In this example, each network slice may have differentS-NSSAIs with the same SST but with different slice differentiators.Additionally, a single UE may be served with one or more network sliceinstances simultaneously via a 5G AN and associated with eight differentS-NSSAIs. Moreover, an AMF 2421 instance serving an individual UE 2401may belong to each of the network slice instances serving that UE.

Network Slicing in the NG-RAN 2410 involves RAN slice awareness. RANslice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic fordifferent network slices, which have been pre-configured. Sliceawareness in the NG-RAN 2410 is introduced at the PDU session level byindicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to a PDU session in all signalingthat includes PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 2410supports the slice enabling in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., the setof network functions that comprise each slice) is implementationdependent. The NG-RAN 2410 selects the RAN part of the network sliceusing assistance information provided by the UE 2401 or the 5GC 2420,which unambiguously identifies one or more of the pre-configured networkslices in the PLMN. The NG-RAN 2410 also supports resource managementand policy enforcement between slices as per SLAs. A single NG-RAN nodemay support multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 2410 may also apply anappropriate RRM policy for the SLA in place to each supported slice. TheNG-RAN 2410 may also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

The NG-RAN 2410 may also use the UE assistance information for theselection of an AMF 2421 during an initial attach, if available. TheNG-RAN 2410 uses the assistance information for routing the initial NASto an AMF 2421. If the NG-RAN 2410 is unable to select an AMF 2421 usingthe assistance information, or the UE 2401 does not provide any suchinformation, the NG-RAN 2410 sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF2421, which may be among a pool of AMFs 2421. For subsequent accesses,the UE 2401 provides a temp ID, which is assigned to the UE 2401 by the5GC 2420, to enable the NG-RAN 2410 to route the NAS message to theappropriate AMF 2421 as long as the temp ID is valid. The NG-RAN 2410 isaware of, and can reach, the AMF 2421 that is associated with the tempID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

The NG-RAN 2410 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 2410resource isolation may be achieved by means of RRM policies andprotection mechanisms that should avoid that shortage of sharedresources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for anotherslice. In some implementations, it is possible to fully dedicate NG-RAN2410 resources to a certain slice. How NG-RAN 2410 supports resourceisolation is implementation dependent.

Some slices may be available only in part of the network. Awareness inthe NG-RAN 2410 of the slices supported in the cells of its neighborsmay be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Theslice availability may not change within the UE's registration area. TheNG-RAN 2410 and the 5GC 2420 are responsible to handle a service requestfor a slice that may or may not be available in a given area. Admissionor rejection of access to a slice may depend on factors such as supportfor the slice, availability of resources, support of the requestedservice by NG-RAN 2410.

The UE 2401 may be associated with multiple network slicessimultaneously. In case the UE 2401 is associated with multiple slicessimultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and forintra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 2401 tries to camp on the bestcell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities can beused to control the frequency on which the UE 2401 camps. The 5GC 2420is to validate that the UE 2401 has the rights to access a networkslice. Prior to receiving an Initial Context Setup Request message, theNG-RAN 2410 may be allowed to apply some provisional/local policies,based on awareness of a particular slice that the UE 2401 is requestingto access. During the initial context setup, the NG-RAN 2410 is informedof the slice for which resources are being requested.

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore NFs, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physicalresources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware,storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be usedto execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample implementations, of a system 3000 to support NFV. The system3000 is illustrated as including a VIM 3002, an NFVI 3004, an VNFM 3006,VNFs 3008, an EM 3010, an NFVO 3012, and a NM 3014.

The VIM 3002 manages the resources of the NFVI 3004. The NFVI 3004 caninclude physical or virtual resources and applications (includinghypervisors) used to execute the system 3000. The VIM 3002 may managethe life cycle of virtual resources with the NFVI 3004 (e.g., creation,maintenance, and tear down of VMs associated with one or more physicalresources), track VM instances, track performance, fault and security ofVM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instancesand associated physical resources to other management systems.

The VNFM 3006 may manage the VNFs 3008. The VNFs 3008 may be used toexecute EPC components/functions. The VNFM 3006 may manage the lifecycle of the VNFs 3008 and track performance, fault and security of thevirtual aspects of VNFs 3008. The EM 3010 may track the performance,fault and security of the functional aspects of VNFs 3008. The trackingdata from the VNFM 3006 and the EM 3010 may comprise, for example, PMdata used by the VIM 3002 or the NFVI 3004. Both the VNFM 3006 and theEM 3010 can scale up/down the quantity of VNFs of the system 3000.

The NFVO 3012 may coordinate, authorize, release and engage resources ofthe NFVI 3004 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., toexecute an EPC function, component, or slice). The NM 3014 may provide apackage of end-user functions with the responsibility for the managementof a network, which may include network elements with VNFs,non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of the VNFs mayoccur via the EM 3010).

FIG. 31 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample implementations, able to read instructions from amachine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 31 shows adiagrammatic representation of hardware resources 3100 including one ormore processors (or processor cores) 3110, one or more memory/storagedevices 3120, and one or more communication resources 3130, each ofwhich may be communicatively coupled via a bus 3140. For implementationswhere node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 3102 maybe executed to provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 3100.

The processors 3110 may include, for example, a processor 3112 and aprocessor 3114. The processor(s) 3110 may be, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, agraphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, anASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor (including those discussed herein), or any suitablecombination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 3120 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 3120 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or nonvolatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 3130 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 3104 or one or more databases 3106 via anetwork 3108. For example, the communication resources 3130 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellularcommunication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® LowEnergy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents.

Instructions 3150 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 3110 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 3150 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 3110 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 3120, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 3150 may be transferred to the hardware resources 3100 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 3104 or the databases 3106.Accordingly, the memory of processors 3110, the memory/storage devices3120, the peripheral devices 3104, and the databases 3106 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiableinformation should follow privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular,personally identifiable information data should be managed and handledso as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use,and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Example Procedures

FIG. 32 illustrates a flowchart of an example of a process 3200 forenhancing a HARQ-ACK timing procedure executed by UE. The process 3200can include receiving, by user equipment (UE), one or more sets ofphysical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) using unlicensed spectrum ofthe wireless network (3210) and determining, by the UE, to causetransmission of a HARQ-ACK or a retransmission of a HARQ-ACKcorresponding to the one or more sets of PDSCHs based on a listen beforetalke (LBT) operation (3220).

FIG. 33 illustrates a flowchart of an example of a process 3300 forenhancing a HARQ-ACK timing procedure executed by a gNB. The process3300 can include encoding, by a gNB, one or more sets of physicaldownlink shared channels (PDSCHs) with respect to a listen before talk(LBT) operation of an unlicensed spectrum (3310), transmitting, by thegNB, the encoded one or more sets of PDSCHs to user equipment (UE)(3320), and determining, by the gNB, scheduling for receiving a HARQ-ACKfrom the UE corresponding to the one or more sets of PDSCHs based on theLBT operation (3330).

FIG. 34 illustrates a flowchart of another example of a process 3400 forenhancing a HARQ-ACK timing procedure executed by a gNB. The process3400 can include assigning, by an access node, a set index to a set ofphysical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) (3410), determining, by theaccess node, a first HARQ-ACK for the set of PDSCHs associated with theset index (3420), determining, by the acces node, whether a secondHARQ-ACK for a different set of PDSCHs is to be transmitted (3430), andbased on determining, by the access node, that a HARQ-ACK for thedifferent set of PDSCHs is to be transmitted transmitting, by the accessnode, scheduling data to user equipment (UE) that, when processed by theUE, causes the UE to schedule transmission of the first HARQ-ACK and thesecond HARQ-ACK. In some implementations, the access node can be a gNB.

Additional Example Procedures

Example 1 may include this disclosure provides details on transmissionand retransmission of HARQ-ACK.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein gNB triggers HARQ-ACK transmission for a current set ofPDSCH and, if needed, a previous set of PDSCH.

Example 3 may include the method of example 2 or some other exampleherein, wherein a DCI indicates a current set index and a previous setindex, C-DAI is incremented based on the last DCI of the previous set,T-DAI indicates the total number of DCIs until now in the previous setand the current set.

Example 4 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein a set index is assigned to a set of PDSCHs, and HARQ-ACKis determined for the set of PDSCHs with same set index.

Example 5 may include the method of example 4 or some other exampleherein, wherein the set of PDSCHs includes PDSCHs with allocated PUCCHresource for the first time, PDSCHs never assigned a PUCCH resourceand/or PDSCHs already assigned a PUCCH resource at an earlier time butfailed in HARQ-ACK transmission.

Example 6 may include the method of example 4 or some other exampleherein, wherein a DCI indicates a set index and a reset indicator; C-DAIis incremented across all DCIs with the same set index with resetindicator not toggled, the first DCI with reset indicator toggled hasC-DAI equal to 1; T-DAI indicates the total number of DCIs till nowacross all DCIs with the same set index with reset indicator nottoggled.

Example 7 may include the method of example 4 or some other exampleherein, wherein a normal DCI triggers HARQ-ACK transmission for one ormultiple sets of PDSCHs, while a fallback DCI triggers HARQ-ACKtransmission for one set of PDSCHs, or a fallback DCI triggers HARQ-ACKtransmission for all sets of PDSCHs.

Example 8 may include the method of example 4 or some other exampleherein, when a PUSCH is scheduled to a UE by a DCI, HARQ-ACKtransmission on PUSCH is done by one of the following schemes, ifone-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is indicated by the DCI, HARQ-ACKs for allthe HARQ processes is reported by the UE, otherwise, the UE transmitsHARQ-ACKs on PUSCH only if the PUSCH is overlapped with a PUCCH forHARQ-ACK; or HARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCH is triggered by the DCI; orHARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCH is triggered if the PUSCH is overlappedwith a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK transmission.

Example 9 may include the method of example 4 or some other exampleherein, wherein one bit is added in DCI to indicate reporting theHARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHs only, T-DAI is reinterpreted to indicate theset index of the set of PDSCHs.

Example 10 may include the method of example 4 or some other exampleherein, wherein if there is not enough gNB processing time between aprevious PUCCH and the current DCIs scheduling PDSCHs who's HARQ-ACK ison a current PUCCH, two indication of C-DAI/T-DAI are indicated in theDCI, one C-DAI/T-DAI counts number of all PDSCHs, while the otherC-DAI/T-DAI only counts the number of PDSCHs scheduled by current DCIs.

Example 11 may include the method of example 4 or some other exampleherein, wherein if there is not enough gNB processing time between aprevious PUCCH and the current DCIs scheduling PDSCHs who's HARQ-ACK ison a current PUCCH, C-DAI/T-DAI in the current DCIs counts number of allPDSCHs.

Example 12 may include the method of examples 10-11 or some otherexample herein, wherein reset indicator in a later DCI scheduling theset of PDSCHs is used to determine HARQ-ACK transmission of the set ofPDSCHs.

Example 13 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein for semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission based on HARQprocesses, UE reports ACK for a HARQ process only one time.

Example 14 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein for semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission based on HARQprocesses, a triggering DCI includes the latest value of NDI for a HARQprocess if HARQ-ACK for the HARQ process is not correctly received;otherwise includes a toggled NDI for the HARQ process.

Example 15 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein for semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission based on HARQprocesses, when UE reports its HARQ-ACK, UE includes the latest NDI atUE side for each HARQ process.

Example 16 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein for semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission based on HARQprocesses, the DCI includes one bit information indicating one of thefollowing, whether to report HARQ-ACK for a latest PDSCH of a HARQprocess whose HARQ-ACK is expected to transmit in a previous PUCCH forthe first time HARQ-ACK feedback; or, If a previous PUCCH carryingHARQ-ACK is correctly received by gNB.

Example 17 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein if there is not enough gNB processing time between aprevious PUCCH and the current DCIs scheduling PDSCHs who's HARQ-ACK ison a current PUCCH, PUCCH_NDI in a later DCI scheduling the set of HARQprocesses is used to determine HARQ-ACK transmission of the set of HARQprocesses.

Example 18 may include the method of examples 13-17 or some otherexample herein, wherein the schemes operate on all HARQ process as awhole, or operate on a subset of HARQ processes separately.

Example 19 may include the method of example 18 or some other exampleherein, wherein a subset of HARQ processes is explicitly indicated inthe triggering DCI; or, HARQ process indicated in the triggering DCIimplicitly indicate a subset of HARQ processes.

Example 20 may include the method of example 18 or some other exampleherein, wherein in a DCI, a second HARQ process number is included andis used in forming a HARQ-ACK codebook.

Example 21 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein for semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission based onconfigured PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing, HARQ-ACK bits for X slots areadditionally added to the HARQ-ACK codebook to account for DCI withoutvalid PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK timing.

Example 21a may include the method of example 21 or some other exampleherein, wherein SFI is used to reduce the codebook size; if DL or UL BWPswitching happens, impacted HARQ-ACK is removed; for a slot outsidegNB-initiated COT, no HARQ-ACK is allocated.

Example 22 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein a DCI indicate 1-bit information on LBT type for PUCCH.

Example 22a may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein for a group of UEs fail in PUCCH transmission with CAT-4LBT derived by a previous indicated PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-timing K1, timingof a new PUCCH is derived by K1 and the time offset Δ, K1+Δ, Δ issignaled in a group-triggering DCI.

Example 23 may include a method for a user equipment (UE) in a wirelessnetwork including a next generation NodeB (gNB) and the UE, the methodcomprising: receiving or causing to receive one or more sets of PhysicalDownlink Shared Channels (PDSCHs) with respect to a listen before talk(LBT) operation on an unlicensed spectrum; and determining atransmission or a retransmission of a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request(HARQ) acknowledge (ACK) from the UE corresponding to the one or moresets of PDSCHs based on the LBT operation.

Example 24 may include the method of example 23 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the unlicensed spectrum is a part of anunlicensed spectrum via Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), or a anunlicensed spectrum via carrier aggregation (CA).

Example 25 may include the method of example 23 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the transmission or the retransmission of theHARQ-ACK is based on a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook or a semi-staticHARQ-ACK codebook.

Example 26 may include the method of example 23 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein a set index is assigned to the one or more setsof PDSCHs, and the HARQ-ACK is determined based on the set of PDSCHswith a corresponding set index.

Example 27 may include the method of example 23 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the one or more sets of PDSCHs include a currentset of PDSCH and a previous set of PDSCH.

Example 28 may include the method of example 27 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein a Downlink Control Information (DCI) indicates acurrent set index and a previous set index, C-DAI is incremented basedon a last DCI of the previous set, T-DAI indicates a total number ofDCIs until now in the previous set and the current set.

Example 29 may include the method of example 27 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein a DCI indicates a set index and a resetindicator; C-DAI is incremented across all DCIs with the same set indexwith reset indicator not toggled, the first DCI with reset indicatortoggled has C-DAI equal to 1; T-DAI indicates the total number of DCIstill now across all DCIs with the same set index with reset indicatornot toggled.

Example 30 may include the method of example 27 or some other exampleherein, wherein one bit is included in DCI to indicate reporting theHARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHs only, T-DAI is reinterpreted to indicate theset index of the set of PDSCHs.

Example 30a may include the method of example 27 or some other exampleherein, wherein if there is not enough gNB processing time between aprevious PUCCH and the current DCIs scheduling PDSCHs who's HARQ-ACK ison a current PUCCH, two indicatioin of C-DAI/T-DAI are indicated in theDCI, one C-DAI/T-DAI counts number of all PDSCHs, while the otherC-DAI/T-DAI only counts the number of PDSCHs scheduled by current DCIs.

Example 31 may include the method of example 27 or some other exampleherein, wherein if there is not enough gNB processing time between aprevious PUCCH and the current DCIs scheduling PDSCHs who's HARQ-ACK ison a current PUCCH, C-DAI/T-DAI in the current DCIs counts number of allPDSCHs.

Example 32a may include the method of any one of examples 23-31 or someother example herein, wherein the determining the transmission orretransmission of the HARQ ACK includes receiving a normal DCI totrigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one or more of the sets of PDSCHs, andreceiving a fallback DCI to trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one of thesets of PDSCHs.

Example 32b may include the method of any one of examples 23-31 or someother example herein, wherein the determining the transmission orretransmission of the HARQ ACK includes receiving a fallback DCI totrigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one or more of the sets of PDSCHs.

Example 32c may include the method of any one of examples 23-32b or someother example herein, further comprising: receiving a DCI to schedule aPUSCH, HARQ-ACK transmission on the PUSCH is determined according to oneof the following: if one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is indicated by the DCI,HARQ-ACKs for all associated HARQ processes are reported by the UE,otherwise, the UE transmits HARQ-ACKs on PUSCH only if the PUSCH isoverlapped with a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK; or HARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCHis triggered by the DCI; or HARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCH is triggeredif the PUSCH is overlapped with a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK transmission.

Example 33 may include the method of any of the examples 23-32c and/orsome other example herein, wherein the method is performed by anapparatus that is implemented in or employed by the UE.

Example 34 may include a method for a next generation NodeB (gNB) in awireless network including the gNB and a user equipment (UE), the methodcomprising: encoding, for transmission to the UE, one or more sets ofPhysical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCHs) with respect to a listenbefore talk (LBT) operation on an unlicensed spectrum; and determiningscheduling for receiving a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ)acknowledge (ACK) from the UE corresponding to the one or more sets ofPDSCHs based on the LBT operation.

Example 35 may include the method of example 34 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the unlicensed spectrum is a part of anunlicensed spectrum via Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), or a anunlicensed spectrum via carrier aggregation (CA).

Example 36 may include the method of example 34 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the transmission or the retransmission of theHARQ-ACK is based on a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook or a semi-staticHARQ-ACK codebook.

Example 37 may include the method of example 34 and/or some otherexample herein, further comprising: initiating the LBT operation; anddetermining a shared channel occupancy time (COT) for the LBT operation.

Example 38 may include the method of example 34 and/or some otherexample herein, further comprising: receiving or causing to receive atransmission or a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK from the UE in responseto the one or more sets of PDSCHs.

Example 39 may include the method of example 34 and/or some otherexample herein, further comprising: assigning a set index to the one ormore sets of PDSCHs, and the HARQ-ACK is determined based on the set ofPDSCHs with a corresponding set index.

Example 40 may include the method of example 34 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the HARQ-ACK is transmitted based on a dynamicHARQ-ACK codebook or a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook.

Example 41 may include the method of example 34 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the one or more sets of PDSCHs include a currentset of PDSCH and a previous set of PDSCH.

Example 41a may include the method of example 41 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein a Downlink Control Information (DCI) indicates acurrent set index and a previous set index, C-DAI is incremented basedon a last DCI of the previous set, T-DAI indicates a total number ofDCIs until now in the previous set and the current set.

Example 42a may include the method of any one of examples 34-41a or someother example herein, further comprising encoding for transmission tothe UE a normal DCI to trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one or more ofthe sets of PDSCHs, and a fallback DCI to trigger HARQ-ACK transmissionfor one of the sets of PDSCHs.

Example 42b may include the method of any one of examples 34-41a or someother example herein, further comprising encoding, for transmission tothe UE, a fallback DCI to trigger HARQ-ACK transmission for one or moreof the sets of PDSCHs.

Example 42c may include the method of any one of examples 23-32b or someother example herein, further comprising: encoding, for transmission tothe UE, a DCI to schedule a PUSCH, wherein the scheduling for theHARQ-ACK on the PUSCH is determined according to one of the following:if one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is indicated by the DCI, HARQ-ACKs for allassociated HARQ processes are reported by the UE, otherwise, the UEtransmits HARQ-ACKs on PUSCH only if the PUSCH is overlapped with aPUCCH for HARQ-ACK; or HARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCH is triggered bythe DCI; or HARQ-ACK transmission on PUSCH is triggered if the PUSCH isoverlapped with a PUCCH for HARQ-ACK transmission.

Example 43 may include the method of example 34-42c and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the method is performed by an apparatus that isimplemented in or employed by the gNB.

Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-43, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-43, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-43, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-43, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-43, or portions thereof.

Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-43, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocoldata unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-43, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described inthe present disclosure.

Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in orrelated to any of examples 1-43, or portions or parts thereof, orotherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame,segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or relatedto any of examples 1-43, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwisedescribed in the present disclosure.

Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carryingcomputer-readable instructions, wherein execution of thecomputer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause theone or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process asdescribed in or related to any of examples 1-43, or portions thereof.

Example Z11 may include a computer program comprising instructions,wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause theprocessing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process asdescribed in or related to any of examples 1-43, or portions thereof.

Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown anddescribed herein.

Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples), unless explicitly statedotherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementationsprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the scope of implementations to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of variousimplementations.

1. A method for enhancing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgment (ACK) timing procedures, the method comprising: assigninga set index to a set of PDSCHs; determining a first HARQ-ACK for the setof PDSCHs associated with the set index; determining whether a secondHARQ-ACK for a different set of PDSCHs is to be transmitted; and basedon determining that a HARQ-ACK for the different set of PDSCHs is to betransmitted, transmitting scheduling data to a user equipment (UE) that,when processed by the UE, causes the UE to schedule transmission of thefirst HARQ-ACK and the second HARQ-ACK.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the scheduling data is downlink control information (DCI), andwherein the DCI includes data representing the set index and a previousset index, a C-DAI that is incremented based on a last DCI of theprevious set index, and a T-DAI that indicates a total number of DCIs inthe set index and the previous set.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe set of PDSCHs includes PDSCHs with allocated PUCCH resource for afirst time, PDSCHs that were never assigned a PUCCH resource, or PDSCHsalready assigned a PUCCH resource at an earlier time but failed intrigger successful HARQ-ACK transmission.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the scheduling data is one or more DCIs, and wherein a first DCIof the DCIs triggers HARQ-ACK transmission for one or multiple sets ofPDSCHs and a different DCI of the DCIs (i) triggers HARQ-ACKtransmission for one set of PDSCHs or (ii) triggers HARQ-ACKtransmission for all sets of PDSCHs.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe scheduling data is one or more DCIs, and wherein one particular DCIof the DCIs includes data representing the set index and a resetindicator, a C-DAI that is incremented across each DCI with the setindex with reset indicator not toggled, wherein the reset indicator ofthe particular DCI is toggled and the particular DCI has C-DAI equal to1 and a T-DAI indicating a total number of DCIs associated with the sameset index and having a reset indicator not toggled.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the scheduling data is a DCI, wherein a PUSCH isscheduled to a UE by a DCI, and wherein HARQ-ACK transmission by the UEon PUSCH (i) is triggered by the DCI or (ii) HARQ-ACK transmission bythe UE on PUSCH is triggered if the PUSCH is overlapped with a PUCCH forHARQ-ACK transmission.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein one bit isadded in a DCI to indicate reporting the HARQ-ACK for earlier PDSCHs andT-DAI is reinterpreted to indicate the set index of the set of PDSCHs.8. The method of claim 1, wherein one bit is added in a DCI to indicatewhether to report HARQ-ACK for a latest PDSCH of a HARQ process whoseHARQ-ACK is expected to transmit in a previous PUCCH for the first timeHARQ-ACK feedback.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein one bit is added ina DCI to indicate whether a previous PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK wascorrectly received by an access node.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereina number of PDSCHs counted by one or more C-DAI/T-DAI is based onwhether access node processing time between a previous PUCCH and thecurrent DCIs scheduling PDSCHs having a HARQ-ACK on a current PUCCHfalls below a predetermined threshold level of processing time.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a reset indicator, in a DCI scheduling theset of PDSCHs, is used to determine HARQ-ACK transmission of the set ofPDSCHs.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein for a semi-static HARQ-ACKtransmission, receiving an ACK transmitted by the UE for a HARQ processonly one time.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein for semi-staticHARQ-ACK transmission: determining whether HARQ-ACK was correctlyreceived; and based on determining that the HARQ-ACK was not correctlyreceived, updating a triggering DCI to include a most recently assignedvalue of NDI for a HARQ process.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein forsemi-static HARQ-ACK transmission: determining whether HARQ-ACK wascorrectly received; and based on determining that the HARQ-ACK wascorrectly received, updating a triggering DCI to include a toggled NDIfor the HARQ process.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning theset index to the set of PDSCHs comprises assigning, by an access node,the set index to the set of PDSCHs.
 16. A system for enhancing hybridautomatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) timing procedures,the system comprising one or more processors configured to performoperations comprising: assigning a set index to a set of PDSCHs;determining a first HARQ-ACK for the set of PDSCHs associated with theset index; determining whether a second HARQ-ACK for a different set ofPDSCHs is to be transmitted; and based on determining that a HARQ-ACKfor the different set of PDSCHs is to be transmitted, transmittingscheduling data to a user equipment (UE) that, when processed by the UE,causes the UE to schedule transmission of the first HARQ-ACK and thesecond HARQ-ACK.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the scheduling datais downlink control information (DCI), and wherein the DCI includes datarepresenting the set index and a previous set index, a C-DAI that isincremented based on a last DCI of the previous set index, and a T-DAIthat indicates a total number of DCIs in the set index and the previousset.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the set of PDSCHs includesPDSCHs with allocated PUCCH resource for a first time, PDSCHs that werenever assigned a PUCCH resource, or PDSCHs already assigned a PUCCHresource at an earlier time but failed in trigger successful HARQ-ACKtransmission.
 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the scheduling data isone or more DCIs, and wherein a first DCI of the DCIs triggers HARQ-ACKtransmission for one or multiple sets of PDSCHs and a different DCI ofthe DCIs (i) triggers HARQ-ACK transmission for one set of PDSCHs or(ii) triggers HARQ-ACK transmission for all sets of PDSCHs. 20-58.(canceled)
 59. An apparatus comprising one or more processors configuredto perform operations comprising: receiving one or more sets of physicaldownlink shared channels (PDSCHs) using unlicensed spectrum of awireless network; and determining to cause transmission of a hybridautomatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) or a retransmissionof a HARQ-ACK corresponding to the one or more sets of PDSCHs based on alisten before talk (LBT) operation. 60-136. (canceled)